Big wins for Latin America, climate tech momentum, and Rover’s $2.3B sale

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Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Friday show, and we’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news.

This week Mary Ann, Kirsten Korosec, and Alex Wilhelm were on hand to chew through a veritable mountain of news. Despite the fact that today is the first of December, tech news is still dropping at a quick clip. So for now, there’s lots to talk about:

• Self-driving setbacks: Cruise is set to slash its costs in the wake of a safety mess, and greater scrutiny from regulators. Alex hopes that the current set of news items doesn’t slow down the progress of self-driving tech.
• Webull snaps up Flink: Free trading is not just a business model that is popular in the United States. Webull is taking the Latin American market more seriously with its purchase of Flink.
• Uber <3’s taxis: What are London’s iconic black cabs doing on Uber’s platform? And how long does it take to go from enemies to frenemies?
• Rover finds the exit: Who would have guessed that dog walking would be worth $2.3 billion?
• IPOs are heating back up (a little): With Shein and Reddit targeting the IPO market in the coming months, it’s time to get our S-1 boots back on and prepare for some new debuts.
• Venture downturns are not death sentences: EU venture funding levels are down, but not out. And what’s going on Down Under?

We are back on Monday! Chat then!