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Chinese car group has been pushing to expand into overseas markets for past few years

BYD has sold more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for the first time, marking a breakthrough for the Chinese group’s efforts to expand into overseas markets.

BYD registered 7,231 fully electric cars in Europe last month compared with 7,165 registrations for Tesla, according to research group Jato Dynamics, the automotive data intelligence firm.

“This is a watershed moment for Europe’s car market, particularly when you consider that Tesla has led the European battery electric vehicle market for years, while BYD only officially began operations beyond Norway and the Netherlands in late 2022,” said Felipe Munoz, global analyst at Jato Dynamics.

Strava, whose valuation includes debt, says it acquired cycling app The Breakaway

Key Points

Strava, the popular running and exercise app, has completed a fresh round of fundraising valuing the business at $2.2 billion including debt, Chief Executive Mike Martin said. The company is also announcing its second acquisition in two months.

The app surged in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people were going outdoors more for exercise, and has continued to ride health trends.

The latest fundraising round was led by Sequoia Capital and consisted of existing investors including TCV, Jackson Square Ventures and Go4it Capital, said Andrew Reed, a partner at Sequoia and a member of Strava’s board. After its last fundraising, which was in 2020, Strava was valued at more than $1.5 billion including debt.

Strava lets users, which it calls “athletes,” record and share activities with friends across dozens of sports. It is especially popular among runners and lets users see how their statistics stack up against those of pro athletes.

In addition to the fresh cash, the company said it has acquired a training app for cyclists called The Breakaway for an undisclosed amount.

The company’s valuation doesn’t include recent acquisitions.

The cycling-app deal follows a period of accelerating growth, Martin said. Strava saw over 50% growth in new users last year, he said, and is poised to reach $500 million in annual recurring revenue in the near future.

Strava last month announced the acquisition of Runna for an undisclosed amount. The app gives users personalized training plans for such races as 5Ks and marathons.

Running has boomed, with participation and interest in marathons jumping and Gen Z embracing running clubs.

Strava is reaping the benefits. It now boasts upward of 150 million registered users worldwide who record activities in more than 40 sports. Growth has been especially strong in some overseas markets including Brazil and Indonesia, Martin said.

The app, founded in 2009, is free and offers additional features for paid subscriptions.

On Earth there is no record of Niallia tiangongensis, a bacterium found aboard the Tiangong station that appears to be well adapted to conditions there.

It is microscopic and rod-shaped, can create spores, and may have evolved to survive hundreds of miles above our planet's surface. This bacterium, never before seen on Earth, was detected on China's Tiangong space station. It has been named Niallia tiangongensis, and it inhabited the cockpit controls on the station, living in microgravity conditions.

According to China Central Television, the country's national broadcaster, taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) collected swab samples from the space station in May 2023, which were then frozen and sent back to Earth for study. The aim of this work was to investigate the behavior of microorganisms, gathered from a completely sealed environment with a human crew, during space travel, as part of the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program (CHAMP).

A paper published in the Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology describes how analysis of samples from the space station revealed this previously unseen bacterial species, which belongs to the genus Niallia. Genomic sequencing showed that its closest terrestrial relative is the bacterium Niallia circulans, although the Tiangong species has substantial genetic differences.

Niallia tiangongensis exhibits structural and functional variations that mean it is well-adapted to existing in a space station. It possesses the ability to hydrolyze gelatin (break down this protein into smaller components) in a unique way, allowing the protein to be consumed for survival in nutrient-poor environments. In addition, these bacteria are able to form a protective biofilm, activate oxidative stress responses, and promote repair in the face of radiation damage. “This aids their survival in the space environment,” the paper explains.

Bacteria of the genus Niallia are characterized by their rod-like shape, a thick cell wall, absence of an outer membrane, and their ability to form endospores that ensure their survival in adverse conditions. Niallia circulans, for example, encapsulates its genetic material in a highly protected cell, which remains inactive until the environment becomes favorable again.

It is unclear whether the newly discovered microbe evolved on the space station or whether it is part of the vast sea of as yet unidentified microorganisms on Earth. To date, tens of thousands of bacterial species have been cataloged, although there are estimated to be billions more unclassified species on Earth.

The discovery of Niallia tiangongensis will provide a better understanding of the microscopic hazards that the next generation of space travelers will face and help design sanitation protocols for extended missions. It is still too early to determine whether the space bacterium poses any danger to taikonauts aboard Tiangong, although it is known that its terrestrial relative, Niallia circulans, can cause sepsis, especially in immunocompromised people.