Business

Business

San Jose automation firm leads in venture capital megafunding

Venture capital funding in the South Bay last year reached the highest levels in nearly a decade with a San Jose firm that invests in AI landing some of the biggest deals. Last November, San Jose-based software developer Automation Anywhere announced that the company had raised $300 million from the Saudi-backed SoftBank Vision Fund. CEO...

Amid PG&E bankruptcy, San Jose rolls out community choice energy program

Days after the state’s largest utility provider filed bankruptcy, the capital of Silicon Valley turned the lights on San Jose Clean Energy, a new community choice plan that environmentalist Ruth Merino has been fighting for the last three years. “No one has to change anything,” Merino said. “You just pay your bill just like you...

San Jose puts off raising building heights — for now

In a unanimous decision, City Council leaders on Monday decided to postpone passing a measure that would increase building height limits in downtown San Jose until February. A study commissioned by the city included four options that would allow for building height increases without jeopardizing safety measures, with “Scenario 4” being the most supported by...

New Silicon Valley Community Foundation CEO focused on rebuilding

While many in Silicon Valley recall the scandal of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Nicole Taylor, the foundation’s new chief executive, is ready to turn a new leaf. Taylor replaces former Silicon Valley Community Foundation CEO Emmett Carson, after he resigned following claims of misconduct by a top foundation executive, Mary Ellen Loijens. Loijens resigned...

Cannabis panel discusses removing barriers, ending the war on drugs

Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco’s vision for cannabis businesses in San Jose focuses on righting the wrongs. For decades, residents in the east San Jose district have been victims of the country’s war on drugs. Now she wants to change that with an equity program. “The way that I see this is what a tragic point in...

Silicon Valley braces for nightmare traffic in 2019

Traffic congestion continues to be a major concern among employers in the Bay Area, and some fear the commute problems could end Silicon Valley’s worldwide appeal. Companies, meanwhile, are coming up with new strategies to get their employees to work in 2019. The Bay Area Council says that the commute problems affect the business climate,...

San Jose defends its cardrooms from Blackjack ban

San Jose’s longstanding war with its cardrooms has turned into… love? As state gaming regulators mulled a controversial proposal to ban Blackjack in California cardrooms, San Jose officials loudly stood up for Casino M8trix and Bay 101 by opposing the change and sending a top city leader to Antioch to speak out against the plan....

San Jose approved Google. What’s next?

It will be years before Google breaks ground near Diridon Station but San Jose residents will soon have a better idea about what the project will look like. The San Jose City Council in December unanimously approved a $110 million sale of roughly 11 acres of public land to the tech behemoth in a plan...