TechWire Rewind: COVID-19 vaccines; companies expand in Charlotte; Peloton acquires NC plant + 60 more headlines – WRAL Tech Wire

As Monday morning rolls in, we’re providing TechWire readers with a quick recap of the past week’s news headlines.
Notable news stories from last week included: Morrisville-based Heat Biologics is moving closer to human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate; a London-based EV startup is bringing its North American headquarters to Charlotte, where it plans to hire around 150 employees; International Capital Group is more than doubling the size of its operations in Charlotte, planning to bring over 500 more jobs with average wages of $87,500; fitness giant Peloton acquired a huge manufacturing plant in Guilford County as a part of its $420 million deal with Precor.
A few North Carolina companies secured new funding last week, including Wilmington-based Performance Culture ($2.9 million), Chapel Hill-based Measur.io ($775,000) and Raleigh-based BOA Nutrition ($1.35 million). Read more local startup news in our weekly Startup Rewind edition.
And, in national news: Apple is moving forward with plans for developing an autonomous vehicle; Google denied and rejected the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit claims; AI startups raised $9.9 billion in the second half of 2020, up 15% from the same period last year; genetics experts worry that coronavirus vaccines might not work as well against the new U.K. variant; China announced an anti-monopoly investigation into e-commerce giant Alibaba; a new survey found that business leaders expect to have 51% or more employees back in the physical workplace by January.
Keeping with our Monday “TechWire Rewind” tradition, here’s a look back at 66 local, state and national headlines as reported by WRAL TechWire last week:
MONDAY | Dec. 21 Headlines:
- Businesses prove aviation is an economic engine
- Flight training at Raleigh Exec Jetport offers opportunities for those interested in aviation
- IBM looks to ‘turbocharge’ cloud efforts with another acquisition
- Looking for tech & entrepreneurship meetups? Here are 155 across Triangle
- NC event headliners: Previewing 46 events & webinars to wrap up 2020, kick off 2021
- New startup-focused podcasts, other resources added to Triangle Startup Guide
- Once-a-month HIV treatment from ViiV Healthcare lands EU approval
- Organizations like Wings of Carolina, Elite Aircraft Services opt for Raleigh Exec Jetport in the Triangle Region
- Raleigh Executive Jetport offers event space, pilot lounge, meeting rooms, and more
- Startup Rewind: Grants, capital raises and crowdfunding info – here’s a recap of last week’s startup news
- Startup Spotlight: EV startup picks Charlotte for US headquarters, plans 150 jobs
- Take that, Amazon: Walmart teams with FedEx for free pick-up-and-return service
- Taking an early look at 2021: Previewing 40 events, deadlines set for February
- TechWire Rewind: Tech jobs drop; SolarWinds hack; Downtown South update + much more news to review
- Thinking about building a chatbot? Here are 4 things customers prefer
- Too much too fast for Tesla? Stock takes a hit on S&P 500 premier day
- Triangle biotech moves closer to human testing for COVID-19 vaccine
- Triangle headliners: 50 local events & deadlines close out 2020, launch 2021