Welcome to the Tech Weekly, NEO’s regular news monitoring of key developments in the food and mobility tech industries.
This week’s highlights:
- Walmart is transforming its stores into hubs for e-commerce business as the retailer competes with Amazon in the e-commerce market. Walmart stores are now acting as launching pads for drones, automated warehouses for online grocery orders and direct drop-off locations. Ultimately, they will help package and ship items for individuals and independents who sell on Walmart’s website through a third-party marketplace. (CNBC)
- Yummy, a food delivery and cab app operating in Latin America, has raised $47 million in its latest funding round. The startup creates what it calls a “super app” with multiple functions, such as transportation and delivery, built into one service. Other industry players like Bolt and Grab are building on a similar model in Europe and Southeast Asia. (Forbes)
- Ford is investing $3.7 billion to add more than 6,200 jobs at the United Auto Workers union across the U.S. Midwest in a bid to expand its electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing capacity. Ford’s move comes as the U.S. has granted around $5.1 billion since 2002 in subsidies to Tesla, Ford and General Motors to develop EV and battery plants, in response to rising consumer demand for the vehicles amid environmental concerns. (Financial Times)