Technology

Calling all early-stage startup founders! Show of hands, please. Who among you wants to exhibit your outstanding technology — to thousands of influential tech leaders, founders and investors — at Disrupt Berlin 2018 on November 29-30

Hereterrific news. We&re looking for exceptional startups to designate as TC Top Picks — and we&ll give each of the chosen few a FREE Startup Alley Exhibitor Package. Interested Then get moving and apply right here before the September 28 deadline.

We run a tight curation process over here at TechCrunch, and our discerning editors — in their search for exceptional founders — will vet every application thoroughly. And that alone provides value. Herewhat Luke Heron, CEO of TestCard.com, said about exhibiting in Startup Alley.

&TechCrunch uses a curation process regarding the companies it accepts,& he said. &So, exhibiting at Disrupt — among all these other fantastic startups — has a hugely positive impact when you&re fundraising.&

Your startup must fall into one of the tech categories below to qualify as a TC Top Pick, and we&ll choose up to five startups to represent each grouping:

• AI/Machine Learning
• Blockchain
• CRM/Enterprise
• E-commerce
• Education
• Fintech
• Healthtech/Biotech
• Hardware, Robotics, IoT
• Mobility
• Gaming

What exactly do you get with an Exhibitor Package Happy to elaborate. It includes a one-day exhibit space, three Disrupt Berlin Founder Passes, access to CrunchMatch (our free investor-to-startup matching platform), full use of the Startup Alley Exhibitor lounge and access to the Disrupt press list.

Who knows, you might even be selected as one of the Startup Battlefield Wild Card winners and compete in our $50,000 startup-pitch competition. How cool is that

Top Pick designees also receive lots of media attention, including a three-minute interview on the Showcase Stage with a TechCrunch editor, which we promote across our social media platforms.Itthe gift that keeps on giving long after Disrupt ends.

Disrupt Berlin 2018 takes place on November 29-30. You have an opportunity to showcase your startup to thousands of potential investors, founders, collaborators and customers in Startup Alley — for free. Apply here to be considered for a TC Top Pick. Your opportunity awaits — until it disappears on September 28.

Morgan Stanley has valued Tesla autonomous vehicle ride-sharing business, which does not yet exist, at $17.7 billion, about one-tenth of Waymovalue, yet still above GM Cruise, the investment firm said in a research note published Tuesday.

The $17.7 billion valuation, or about $95 per Tesla share, is notably lower than the $244 a share that Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the service was worth in 2015. (Keep in mind this valuation is just for Teslaautonomous vehicle ride-sharing network, not the entire company.) Morgan Stanleycurrent price target for Tesla is $291 a share.

Placing a value on a business that doesn&t exist may seem, well, premature. But in Morgan Stanleyview, it reflects Teslastagnation in this area as much as the progress made by other autonomous vehicle technology companies such as Cruise and Waymo . Jonas noted that Tesla has shared &extremely few details about how shared autonomy can be positioned as a separate business model,& while Cruise and Waymo have become &increasingly conspicuous with their efforts to grow the business with specific targets for commercialization and deployment.&

Teslahigher cost of capital compared to Waymo and potentially less room for adjacent revenue monetization were also cited as reasons for the lower valuation.

&In our opinion, Tesla may one day need to make a strategic decision over whether to pursue a shared autonomy strategy on &go-it-alone& basis or whether to find ways to &attach& their vehicle data and fleet management ecosystem to one or more external platforms that maybe in a far better position to pursue data monetization, improved customer engagement/experience and lower cost to the consumer,& Jonas wrote in the research note.

Three years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk floated an idea for a network of autonomous vehicles that Tesla owners could put to use on a ride-sharing service to earn a bit of extra money. Few details about this Tesla Network have emerged since then.

The most recent smidge of information came from Musk during the companyfirst-quarter earnings call in May when he said that from a &technical standpoint& Tesla vehicles would be capable of full autonomy by the end of this year. He also noted that regulatory approval made it difficult to predict timing of an actual launch.

In the meantime, companies like Waymo and GMCruise have ramped up their deployment plans for autonomous vehicle ride-hailing services.

Morgan Stanley does predict that Tesla will take the lead, at least initially. Jonas predicts that Teslaautonomous vehicle ride-sharing network will have more vehicles, more miles traveled and greater revenue than Waymo by 2030.

However, the Waymo figures continue to ramp up very significantly through 2040, reaching $724 billion of revenue and $92 billion of operating profit by 2040, Jonas wrote.

&In short, we assume Tesla gets off to a faster start than Waymo in terms of shared miles accumulation, but that Waymo catches up and surpasses Tesla just a few years later and with likely a more sustainable and protected business model,& Jonas wrote.

The forecast places Waymo at the top with a $175 valuation, Tesla at $17.7 billion, and Cruise trailing with a $11.5 billion valuation.

Theranos is reportedly finally closing down for good, nearly three years after a Wall Street Journal investigation called its blood testing technology into question. The WSJ said the company, whose dramatic downfall spawned a best-selling book thatset to be filmed with Jennifer Lawrence starring as Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes, sent shareholders an email saying it will formally dissolve and seek to pay unsecured creditors its remaining cash in the coming months.

Holmes resigned as CEO in June after she and Theranos& former president, Ramesh &Sunny& Balwani, were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud in June.

Both Holmes and Balwani had already been charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the criminal charges are separate from the civil ones filed by the SEC). In its complaint, the SEC said the two engaged in &an elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the companytechnology, business and financial performance,& which ultimately enabled them to raise more than $700 million from investors.

Holmes and the SEC settled the charges by having Holmes agree to pay a $500,000 penalty and be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years. She was also required to return the remaining 18.9 million shares she obtained while engaging in fraud and relinquish voting control of Theranos.

TechCrunch has sent an email to Theranos& public relations address asking for comment.