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The LA Auto Show was this week and whereas it now not has the cache of pre-COVID days, there have been nonetheless some notable information that got here out of the occasion. TechCrunch reporter Harri Weber was on the scene serving to me cowl the information. One of the greatest bulletins had nothing to do with a car reveal. Nope, it was Amazon declaring it was now going to sell cars online, beginning with Hyundai.
Other protection included the Lucid Gravity SUV debut and a useful roundup that coated the tech, EVs and different enjoyable stuff that received our consideration.
Alrighty, let’s dive in!
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Micromobbin’
Upway, the French refurbished e-bike market, has raised $30 million at an elevated valuation. Normally this piece of reports would go in our offers part under, however I wished to ponder on the which means of this up spherical.
Upway is current in a number of international locations in Europe and not too long ago expanded to the U.S. It takes in used e-bikes from respected and fascinating manufacturers, fixes them up, and sends them out to clients at an honest worth. Getting this enterprise proper requires good provide chain and logistics administration, and it seems Upway is on the proper path. In right now’s capital markets, it’s not as straightforward to get new traders if you happen to’re not proving out enterprise sustainability.
Zooming out to the macro setting, e-bikes aren’t going wherever. In reality, as extra folks purchase new bikes, the marketplace for used ones grows. And with all the e-bike battery fires we’ve seen, an organization providing safely refurbished e-bikes looks as if a fairly whole lot.
— Rebecca Bellan
Deal of the week
Just a roundup this week!
Divergent Technologies, a Torrance, Calif.-based startup that developed an industrial digital manufacturing system, raised $230 million in a Series D funding spherical led by a $100 million funding from Hexagon AB. The spherical additionally included participation from new and current institutional and household workplace traders.
Gravity, an EV infrastructure startup, raised $13 million in a seed spherical led by GV (Google Ventures).
GM acquired key Tesla gigacasting provider Tooling & Equipment International, Reuters reported.
InDrive, the “bid-based” ride-hail platform well-liked in Latin America and Asia, launched a venture and merger and acquisition division named New Ventures to speculate as much as $100 million in startups inside rising markets over the subsequent few years. The $100 million received’t come from a fund, precisely. The plan is to speculate the cash “over the next few years by making annual allocations of investment capital from our balance sheet, starting in 2024,” Andries Smit, vp of New Ventures advised TechCrunch.
Luup, a Tokyo-based shared e-scooter startup, raised $24 million to develop its cost ports to 10,000 by 2025, up from round 4,900 right now.
Revolv, an electrical business fleet firm primarily based in San Francisco, raised $25 million in fairness mission financing from Greenbacker Capital Management.
Shekel Mobility, a B2B auto sellers market in Africa, raised more than $7 million in funding that was comprised of $3.2 million in fairness and over $4 million in debt. Ventures Platform co-led the spherical alongside MaC Venture Capital. Other traders embody Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Unpopular Ventures, Maiora Capital, Web pageOne Lab Inc., Phoenix Investment Club, Heirloom VC, Pioneer Ventures and different angel traders. Meanwhile, Zedvance, VFD Microfinance Bank, Zenith Bank and Fluna, amongst others, supplied the debt element.
Tenet, an EV financing startup primarily based in New York, raised $10 million in Series A funding spherical led by Nyca Partners. Assurant Ventures and Giant Ventures additionally participated.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous autos
Texas is poised to be the subsequent hotbed for autonomous autos and a probable regulatory battleground. AVs aren’t regulated in the state, however as robotaxis incidents rise, cities may turn to one weapon that California doesn’t have, TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan writes.
Meanwhile, GM has taken the wheel at its troubled AV subsidiary Cruise, going so far as inserting one of its own executives to move up the self-driving automotive firm’s authorized and coverage, communications and finance groups.
Quite a lot of Cruise workers have reported to TechCrunch that morale is at a brand new low level because of a call by dad or mum firm GM to suspend its employee share-selling program. But wait! On Saturday, Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt despatched an e mail to workers (which TechCrunch has seen) apologizing to workers, taking accountability and reversing course, kind of, on the share sale. He opened with:
“I know the news about changes to our RLO program was extemely difficult to hear, and that there were many unanswered questions. We left you with concerns about your colleagues, your careers, and your personal finances. That’s the last thing I want for anyone, and I am truly sorry.”
Vogt went on to say that the firm was engaged on a method to conduct a brand new tender provide that would mitigate potential tax obligations.
He later wrote that “as CEO, I take responsibility for the situation Cruise is in today. There are no excuses, and there is no sugar coating what happened.”
Earnings
It was a slower earnings week for transportation. Still, there have been a few noteworthy ones.
It’s nonetheless not wanting good for Bird, which closed out the quarter after getting delisted from the inventory market with a $19.8 million loss. Bird’s going concern warning could be very a lot nonetheless in impact — the firm has incurred recurring losses and unfavourable money flows since its inception and has gathered a deficit of $1.6 billion as of September 30, 2023.
Revenue stays gentle, regardless of the Spin purchase, at $54.3 million (down from $72.8 million in Q3 2022). Now we’re coming into winter, when money flows will drop much more considerably. Bird closed out the quarter with $10.2 million in money and money equivalents, which by my calculations provides it one other 9 months with its present money burn. The firm says it received’t be capable of meet obligations over the subsequent 12 months.
Gogoro, too, continues to be feeling its earlier stings of currency conversions. Its income of $91.8 million for the quarter is down 10.2% YoY. However, battery swapping service income of $33.6 million is up 10.4% YoY. The battery swapping big closed Q3 with a web lack of $3.1 million, down from a web earnings of $56.4 million in the identical quarter final 12 months. On an adjusted foundation, Gogoro reported EBITDA of $13.1 million, which is up from $9.2 million in Q3 2022.
Fisker additionally had a troubling third quarter, reporting a wider-than-expected loss.
Electric autos, charging & batteries
Arrival, the as soon as buzzy EV startup that went public through a merger with a clean verify firm, secured a $50 million bridge loan —funds that will maintain it afloat lengthy sufficient to discover a possible sale.
Cadillac debuted the Optiq, an entry-level compact crossover EV that will slot under the Lyriq
Candela’s electric hydrofoiling ferry, which is now in manufacturing, took its first “flight” in Stockholm.
Exxon desires to drill enough lithium out of Arkansas to energy 1 million EVs per 12 months.
GM absorbed BrightDrop, the wholly-owned business EV subsidiary, a change that included ousting its CEO. Does the identical destiny await Cruise, one other one among its subsidiaries?
Mercedes plans to construct round 30 fast-charging hubs at Buc-ee’s areas all through the South. TC+ reporter Tim de Chant digs into why supersize comfort shops may be key to unlocking EV quick charging?
Redwood Materials will supply Toyota with cathode materials and anode copper foil for battery cells produced at the automaker’s $13.9 billion manufacturing unit in North Carolina that’s slated to enter manufacturing in 2025.
Tesla hits reverse on its earlier menace to sue Cybertruck resellers. Also, an upgraded Tesla Cyberquad for kids is again on sale after security recall.
Future of flight
Archer Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding with Air Chateau, a non-public aviation operator in UAE, at a price of round $500 million for the deliberate buy of as much as 100 of Archer’s Midnight eVTOLs.
Joby Aviation and Volocopter gave the public a vivid glimpse of what the future of aviation may seem like this weekend, with each firms performing temporary demonstration flights of their electrical plane in New York City.
Zipline hit an vital milestone in its U.S. operations. The Federal Aviation Administration authorized Zipline for flying its autonomous drone with out line of sight visible observers. Soon after the FAA lifted this requirement, Zipline flew its Platform 1 plane in the Salt Lake City space with out the previously-required visible observers. Zipline is now flying in Utah with out this requirement and will quickly develop that method throughout its U.S. operations, in response to the firm.
In-car tech
Feds need speed reduction tech in each new automotive. Are American drivers prepared?
A software program replace bricked Rivian infotainment methods. About 3% of its vehicles have been impacted by the subject, which is being addressed with an over-the-air software program replace.
Ride-hailing
Uber is introducing new options geared towards addressing the problems with unfair deactivations that ride-hail and supply drivers typically face.
