SpinVox nabs $25M, demos voice-to-text with mixed results
SpinVox, the service that translates voice into text messages, demonstrated its technology to journalists today, emphasizing that its dependence on transcription by human operators will in no way hold the product back. That said, presenters stopped short of saying exactly how often these call centers are used versus automatic transcription.
At one point, the company’s chief information officer, Rob Wheatley, said that SpinVox has at times needed to route all of its calls through humans, but… Continue Reading
Agriculture dept. earmarks $80M for Range Fuels, cellulosic ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol producer Range Fuels announced today that it landed an $80 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund construction of a new wood-chip processing plant in Georgia, slated to open in 2010. The deal, which falls under the biofuel provisions of the much-discussed 2008 Farm Bill, is essentially a promise that the department will cover the loan if Range can’t; it also lowers the cost of the project and interest… Continue Reading
Range Fuels ups earlier round to $166M, racing against Mascoma and Coskata
Cellulosic ethanol producer Range Fuels has heaped more than $50 million extra onto a $100 million round we reported two months ago, picking up the support of Passport Capital, Morgan Stanley Capital Group and others.
While the company originally planned to keep the round to $100 million, it appears to have received intense interest in its project. While the round was at first over-subscribed to $130 million, according to Ethanol Producer Magazine, Range has now taken… Continue Reading