Husband and wife blast off with Blue Origin | Microsoft acquires Minit

Husband and wife blast off with Blue Origin: Marc and Sharon Hagle became the first married couple to fly on a commercial spaceship Thursday during a suborbital trip provided by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture. They were joined by four other spacefliers to an altitude of 66.5 miles and an astronaut’s-eye view of a curving Earth beneath. Read more.

Microsoft’s latest acquisition: The tech giant is buying Minit, a 50-person company based in Amsterdam that makes automated tools for identifying and untangling inefficiencies in business processes.

Common Room unveils product: Founded in 2020 by four tech vets and backed by $52 million in funding, the Seattle startup helps companies build a better conduit between themselves and their communities. Read more. 

Where’s my jetpack? It was at the MARS conference in California, along with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy. The event is a showcase — and photo op — for assorted things involving Machine learning, Automation, Robotics and Space. Here’s a sampling. 

Startup helps Yelp expand restaurant data: Seattle’s Hazel Analytics is providing health inspection data that is pinned to restaurant reviews in regions of 48 states. Read more.

Meet Avalanche Energy: The stealthy startup founded by former Blue Origin engineers is building a small-scale fusion energy solution and foregoing the outrageous temperatures and ultra powerful magnets required by other systems. Read more.  

Funding news: Protein design company Arzeda landed $33 million and WEconnect Health Management raised $3 million to help people with substance abuse disorder. Read more.