YC Demo Day founder told me today that they raised $7M last week at a $50M Valuation. Then proceeds to tell me they’ve opened up additional $2M allocation at $75M valuation, expected to close in next 24hrs. Heating up.. @ycombinator

JUST IN: A satellite carrying four 3D printers is set to resume manufacturing directly in the vacuum of space, with the next tests attempting to build meter-scale structures from orbit. Orbital Matter’s Replicator 2 has completed its first extrusion in orbit and is including structures designed to deploy an antenna and unfold a solar array as they grow. The technology uses a liquid polymer extruded in space and hardened by UV light. Orbital Matter ultimately wants to manufacture 100-meter+ structures supporting 100-kW solar arrays, with a follow-on mission targeting 3-meter beams and a 1-kW array before the end of 2027. By around 2030, its roadmap extends to kilometer-scale solar arrays and radiators for massive infrastructure including orbital data centers and space stations. For decades, spacecraft have been constrained by what engineers can fold inside a rocket fairing. The Orbital Matter concept aims to launch the machine that builds space infrastructure directly in space.

We’re in orbit! And just made European history: This is the first time a privately developed rocket reached orbit from continental Europe; and a testament to the dedication, expertise, and teamwork of everyone involved.

Los Angeles is full of hardware startups these days - most of them doing defense, energy, manufacturing and aerospace. But this week we bring you the story of a company making a fish killing robot. It's from @ShinkeiSystems, and it's designed to kill fish in a more humane way using a method perfected in Japan and now automated with a robot. The fish are killed quickly instead of suffocating on a boat. And the result result for humans is better tasting, healthier fish. We went to El Segundo to see how the robot is made and operates and then hopped on a boat to see it in action on the sea. Full episode here made possible by the finance geniuses at @brexHQ.

For reasons still unknown to me, I started exploring the world of "cheap" watches. I got my son a duro and my daughter a cool white G-Shock that she may be unable to kill. In the meantime I went from "cool, I should get myself a $50 80s casio to OMG I NEED this $8000 casio..."