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Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon.com Inc., speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Thursday, September 19, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Amazon has bought Selz, a company that makes tools that businesses can use to open their own online stores.

Amazon tacitly acquired the e-commerce platform on January 15, but did not publish the acquisition. Selz announced the deal in a company blog post.

“We have signed an agreement to be acquired by Amazon and look forward to working with you as we continue to develop user-friendly tools for entrepreneurs,” said Martin Rushe, CEO and founder of Selz, in the blog post.

An Amazon spokeswoman confirmed the takeover. The spokeswoman declined to disclose the terms of the contract. Representatives from Selz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For the past few months, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has focused on Shopify, an e-commerce enabler whose business has skyrocketed during the pandemic. As a competitor, consumers turned to online retailers for essential and non-essential goods during the pandemic.

Amazon previously operated a service similar to Shopify called Amazon Webstore, which allowed small businesses to run online stores based on Amazon’s technology. However, the company closed Amazon Webstore in 2015.

The Selz acquisition comes as Amazon’s third-party marketplace, comprised of more than 2.5 million sellers, continues to thrive. The segment now accounts for more than half of Amazon’s e-commerce sales and has helped Amazon achieve record sales.

By providing small and medium-sized businesses with additional tools to quickly move their business online, Amazon could gain a competitive advantage over companies like Shopify and e-commerce software company BigCommerce.

Selz was founded in 2013 and is based in Sydney, Australia. The company offers small and medium-sized businesses a platform to open their own online shops and add online payment options to existing websites. The company has fewer than 50 employees, according to LinkedIn.

In the blog post, Rushe said that “nothing will change” for Selz customers as a result of the takeover of Amazon.

An artist rendering of the company’s space station in orbit.

Axiom space

Houston-based Axiom Space will fully expand production of private space stations while flying paying passengers into orbit while traveling. The company announced Tuesday that it had raised $ 130 million in a new round of funding.

“In this round we can make an important payment for the construction of our products [space station] Module and lets us build the team we’ve been expanding at a crazy pace, “Axiom President and CEO Michael Suffredini told CNBC.

Axiom declined to comment specifically on its valuation, but Suffredini said the company is now “well behind the point” of becoming a unicorn, meaning its valuation has exceeded $ 1 billion. This makes Axiom one of the 10 most valuable private US space companies.

The company’s final round of funding was led by C5 Capital and supported by Declaration Partners – backed by David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group – and by TQS Advisors, Moelis Dynasty Investments, University of Washington at St. Louis, The Venture Collective, Aidenlair Capital. Hemisphere Ventures and Starbridge Venture Capital.

Rob Meyerson, operating partner at C5 and past President of Blue Origin, will also join Axiom’s board of directors.

“Axiom Space is a force in the space sector and will be a central element of the C5 Capital portfolio and enhance our vision for a secure global future,” Meyerson said in a statement.

Suffredini noted that C5 hit Axiom for leading the round in June. However, it took until December to complete the funding round as some investors struggled to “get the money”.

He stressed that the delays were not “due to a lack of interest”. “The market is excited about what we are doing,” as it clearly falls into an emerging sector of the space industry, while many companies focus on missiles or satellites, he said.

Axiom was talking about going public, Suffredini said, especially as special-purpose acquisition companies have become an option for space companies looking to raise funds. Suffredini expects the company to reassess the “public versus private” conversation the next time it searches for capital. He added that Axiom “has two to three acquisitions that we will consider over the next year” as it explores ways to add complementary functionality as the company grows.

Axiom has raised $ 150 million since it was founded in 2016. CEO Kam Ghaffarian provided seed funding through IBX, his family office. Ghaffarian co-founded Axiom and Suffredini shortly after he retired as NASA program manager for the International Space Station.

Axioms Private Astronaut Missions

Crew Dragon’s spaceship “Resilience” approaches the International Space Station in orbit.

NASA

Flying a crew of four private astronauts on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is Axiom’s short-term focus. The mission, named AX-1, is expected to start in January and will be the first fully private flight to the ISS.

Axiom plans to make private flying astronauts a routine part of its business, with the new funds helping “make payments for things we need to buy,” Suffredini said

“We intend to do a couple of flights a year,” he said.

He said the missions – which cost more than $ 200 million each – “really pay off” in the long run, with Axiom’s funds helping to create a payment plan for its customers and SpaceX.

“Especially on these flights, where we make payments for certain services and items, we make up the customer’s payments and then pay back ourselves,” said Suffredini.

Axiom’s AX-1 mission will bring former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, real estate investor Larry Connor, Canadian investor Mark Pathy and former Israeli fighter pilot Eytan Stibbe to the space station. Lopez-Alegria is the spacecraft commander and Connor is the pilot, while Pathy and Stibbe are mission specialists.

Build goals in space

A partition for the company’s first module after forging.

Axiom space

Axiom’s focus on space goes beyond flying passengers. The company is working on habitable modules that connect to the ISS and work independently in orbit.

“Everyone builds missiles, but no one has built targets to go to,” said Ghaffarian. “Lots of companies build trips into space, but where are they going, especially when the International Space Station retires?”

Axiom aims to double its 110 employees this year and reach 1,000 by the end of 2024. The company is also building a 322,000-square-foot headquarters at the Houston Spaceport in Ellington Field, near the NASA Center’s Johnson Space.

The company will first build a manufacturing bay similar to the one at Kennedy Space Center, where modules for the ISS were built, and then grow from there. Axiom’s headquarters will include assembly areas, a control center, training facilities and even hangars for the jets needed for astronaut training flights.

Given the cost of scaling his ambitions, Suffredini expects Axiom will continue to raise funds over the next four years. But the opportunity represents “a huge market,” said Ghaffarian.

“It’s not just about building a space station where there is a target,” said Ghaffarian. “Whether it’s manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, private astronauts, or even satellite service, all kinds of infrastructure as a service are really the model we’re thinking about.”

Suffredini said Axiom has started speaking to companies in other industries, some “don’t even realize microgravity can help them” and others who don’t have access to the ISS. Some companies, including Procter & Gamble and retinal implant specialist LambdaVision, have carried out research on board the ISS.

“Some aspects that we haven’t even thought about will be there, just like in the early days of the internet when we couldn’t foresee everything we could do with the internet,” said Ghaffarian. “We are building a platform on which the whole thing [low Earth orbit] Economy or space travel can build on it. “

First step: Establish a connection to the ISS

A picture of three of the company’s modules connected to the International Space Station.

Axiom space

Ghaffarian said, “Successful companies are those companies that are profitable, otherwise they are not sustainable.”

Axiom has already started generating revenue for its space stations. As early as 2024, NASA commissioned the company to connect a habitable module to the ISS. The seven-year contract has a maximum award value of $ 140 million, Suffredini said beyond development, including launching and operating the module once it is connected to the space station.

“It’s exciting because it’s the first commercial space station in the world and we’re going to connect to the ISS,” said Suffredini.

It’s an addition that NASA is eagerly awaiting. The space agency notes that Axiom’s latest round of donations “is further evidence that NASA’s low-earth orbit commercial strategy is gaining traction.”

“Capital markets are reacting, and many companies have turned to NASA to work with us on our various low-earth orbit commercial initiatives,” said Phil McAlister, NASA’s director of commercial spaceflight development. “We are still in the early stages of transitioning low-earth orbit from a government-dominated arena to one where the private sector takes the lead.”

“There is still a lot to be done and it will take many companies to successfully build a sustainable economy in space, but this is a positive sign,” said McAlister.

The Axiom Station modules will help increase the usable and habitable volume of the ISS. According to Suffredini, Axiom sourced the parts of its modules that took the longest to arrive, having “signed major vendors” and “early design”.

“The most important part of this procurement that we competed for and ultimately won was the fact that it wasn’t about how NASA gave enough money to develop – because if NASA did this they would just end up with the next one Own space station. ”Suffredini said. “If we could make all of our money on the NASA contract, we wouldn’t be working very hard to build the market.”

The company then plans to take off its Axiom Station modules in late 2028, when the 20-year-old ISS is expected to retire. According to Suffredini, if NASA expands use of the ISS, the Axiom Station will remain connected while the company builds other free-flying private space stations.

“The most important part of this concept is that of everything [happening] There is a very smooth transition from state-owned and operated facility to commercial facility on the ISS, “Suffredini said.

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Pedestrians walk on an icy road on February 15, 2021 in East Austin, Texas. Winter storm Uri has historically brought cold weather to Texas, causing traffic delays and power outages, and storms hit 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation.

Montinique Monroe | Getty Images

Energy prices rose Tuesday as a freezer in the south boosted fuel demand and hampered production.

According to poweroutage.us, more than 4 million people in Texas were without power on Tuesday morning as the power grid couldn’t keep up with increased demand and in some cases, utility companies were forced to implement rolling blackouts.

“Most of the heating needs in the southern region are met by electric baseboards or heat pumps,” said John Kilduff, founding partner of Again Capital. “The demand for electricity at the weekend was comparable to the heat waves in summer.”

Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 6.7% to trade at $ 3.106 per million British thermal units. The gasoline futures gained more than 4%.

“The storm that crippled the Midwest and Northeast was much worse than expected,” said Jeff Kilburg, CEO of KKM Financial. “Frigid temps and speculators that are running low are driving futures prices up dramatically.”

According to estimates by ClearView Energy Partners, the storm blocked about 30 gigawatts of generating capacity as consumers increased demand for heating for their homes. Ultimately, there just wasn’t enough supply, forcing energy companies to turn to the free market to buy electricity.

“The weather is bad enough to throttle supply when demand is close to an all-time high,” RBC analysts said in a note. “Certain regional spot prices for natural gas have risen 10 to 100 times within a few days.”

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, the US oil benchmark, broke above $ 60 for the first time in more than a year on Monday, despite trading below that level on Tuesday morning. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell 21 cents to $ 63.09 a barrel.

The generation of units across different fuel types – including some wind production – has been taken offline, and the freezing of pipelines is hampering the flow of natural gas and crude oil. Texas is the largest producer of crude oil and natural gas in the US and has 30 refineries, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Texas, said that of the 2.6 million people living in Texas on Monday, only 70,000 were affected by rundown power lines or trees. He estimates that a million barrels of crude oil per day have gone offline, around 40% to 50% of natural gas production in the Permian Basin has ceased, and around 50% of wind power production has been cut off thanks to frozen leaves.

The energy sector gained more than 2% during premarket trading on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum was up 6% in premarket trading, while Exxon, Devon Energy, Halliburton and ConocoPhillips were up more than 2%.

President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency in Texas on Sunday when the storm brought snow and ice from Arkansas to Indiana. The storm is expected to move from the Ohio Valley via Pennsylvania to Maine, according to the National Weather Service.

With advances in technology and the advent of high-speed Internet connections, many of us now have easy access to a range of information about the buildings we live in.

Thanks to the proliferation of hardware and software in the home, this trend is showing no signs of subsiding and comes in many different forms, from indoor air quality monitors to “smart” doorbells that give us real-time visual notifications when someone is trying to answer ours Property access.

The generation of electricity from renewable residential areas is also becoming increasingly important. More and more people are installing solar panels in hopes of lowering the bills and their ecological footprint.

In the US alone, the residential solar market installed an output of 738 megawatts in the third quarter of 2020, an increase of 14% compared to the second quarter. This comes from a recent report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie.

Earlier this month, California-based SunPower, which specializes in the design, manufacture, and supply of solar panels and systems, announced the launch of an app that allows homeowners to evaluate and manage their power generation, consumption, and battery storage settings. Cellphone.

The service will be available to customers with its SunPower Eqiunox system and is another example of how connected technologies can provide us with valuable information about the operation of buildings.

Similar offerings in this increasingly crowded market include what are known as “smart” meters that allow consumers to see in real time how much energy they are using and how much money they are spending.

Other products, such as Centrica’s Hive, allow users to install a range of connected kits – from plugs and lights to thermostats and indoor cameras – that can be controlled via an app on their mobile phone and in some cases their voice.

Charge a charged car

Solar panels are one way of integrating sustainable technology into homes. Other examples are the installation of charging stations for electric vehicles.

With governments around the world trying to stop diesel and gasoline vehicle sales and encouraging consumers to buy electrical appliances, home charging systems could become an integral part of the built environment in the years to come.

Companies that offer paid fees for home use include Pod Point and BP Pulse. Both services include apps that provide data such as energy consumption, charging costs and charging history.

Another company, Wallbox, recently announced that it would be launching its first electric vehicle charger for North American households.

The Spain-based company said the system would be compatible with all types of electric vehicles, would allow customers to plan charges, and could be voice-controlled via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Aside from the private sector, governments are also trying to encourage the development of charging infrastructure for private households.

Over the weekend, UK authorities announced that the electric vehicle homecharge program, which gives drivers up to £ 350 (about $ 487) for a charging system, will be expanded and expanded to appeal to those who are in leaseholds Life.

Mike Hawes, executive director of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, described the government announcement as “welcome and a step in the right direction”.

“As we near the end of sales of new gasoline and diesel cars and vans by 2030, we need to accelerate the expansion of the charging system for electric vehicles,” he added.

“An EV revolution will require the installation of homes and workplaces, which this announcement will fuel, but also a massive increase in public charges on the road and rapid charging stations on our strategic road network.”

Change underway, but challenges ahead

As attempts to decarbonize buildings and society increase, the way our homes look and function could be on the verge of a big change.

“On-grid home generation technologies like solar panels will be important in moving to a 100% renewable power grid, but power decarbonization is only part of the transition,” Peter Tyldesley, executive director of the Center for Alternative Technology, told CNBC via email.

Turning to the UK, Tyldesley went on to explain how his organization “provided just under 10% of the electricity in a future zero-carbon society from solar PV that uses 15-20% of the UK’s rooftop”. This compared to over 75% of electricity from wind power.

Tyldesley went on to pose “the bigger challenge”.

“In order to decarbonise the UK housing stock to the extent and at the rate it takes to go to zero carbon, we may need to renovate a million houses a year to improve insulation and airtightness and use heat pumps or over the next decades other non-installed ones to install – fossil fuel heating, “he said.

“To do this, we urgently need a coordinated national program with a commitment to multi-year government investment,” he added.

Tyldesley wanted to highlight some of the possibilities that could arise as buildings become increasingly interconnected and give us a huge amount of data on how they work.

“Studies on the introduction of smart metering technology have shown that consumers use less energy when they can monitor their consumption in real time. Therefore, this technology, when combined with other forms of support, can be a useful part of behavior change programs for improving home efficiency.” , he said.

“The introduction of smart devices can go a step further – they respond to signals coming from the grid and help shift consumption from peak times to times when more renewable energy is available,” he added.