Welcome back to the station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of transporting people and packages from Point A to Point B.
I’ll be at the center of the startup world this coming week. Where is this, you say? Disabled 2023 In San Francisco, of course. Hope to see you all there!
A historic moment occurred Thursday night when the UAW decided to strike against all three major U.S. automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis of North America (known as Chrysler) — after the two sides failed to reach an agreement.
The workers did not strike all facilities at once, instead picketing the targeted locations for the time being. This situation is fluid and there have already been some repercussions. General Motors said it expects its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas to be idle due to a shortage of seals made at the Missouri plant as workers go on strike. Ford also issued temporary layoffs to 600 workers at its Michigan assembly plant near Detroit.
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Microbean
Lime Once again, I touted its ability to turn a profit in the unforgiving scooter game this week, and once again I wished the company would show me its balance sheets so I could back up those claims.
And maybe soon I’ll be able to look behind the curtain. Along with the news that Lime reached an impressive adjusted EBITDA of $27 million in the first half of 2023 ($20.6 million unadjusted) and is on track for free cash flow positivity in 2023, Lime said it It is finally considering going public.
Lime has been teasing plans to go public for years, but market forces like the pandemic and economic downturn have thwarted the company’s path. The market mood now seems to have improved, with plenty of other startups looking to go public in 2023 and beyond.
“If the market reaction is good, and as more companies emerge [with IPOs]“We have the economics, growth and profitability to take Lime public as soon as the market allows,” CEO Wayne Ting told TechCrunch.
In other news. . .
Germany He seemed to be thinking about whether he wanted to Scooters on its streets – just two weeks after Paris’s ban on shared e-scooters came into effect.
Honda It has a new e-scooter called the Motocompacto, which has an aesthetic that managing editor Daryl Etherington describes as “irresistibly cool, irresistibly cool.”
New York City They voted to create a Trade software This would make it easier for New Yorkers to replace their e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries made from aftermarket parts with ones that meet industry safety standards, either for free or at a low cost.
Deal of the week
Battery companies continue to get huge sums of money from investors and governments.
Takes Vercor, the Renault-backed French battery company that produces cylindrical battery modules and bags for electric vehicles and energy storage sites. The company said it had secured “more than 2 billion euros” ($2.1 billion) to accelerate construction of its giant Dunkirk factory. Yes, you read that correctly.
The huge sum includes an €850 million Series C funding round as well as €600 million in loans from the EU’s European Investment Bank. The $2.15 billion figure also includes 650 million euros in French subsidies that have not yet been approved, awaiting final approval from the European Commission. Macquarie, French infrastructure investor Meridiam and Renault participated in the Series C round.
As TechCrunch reporter Harry Weber notes, this stunning round follows other big increases from battery startups, including Let it bewhich announced this week that it had raised $200 million in a Series B round. That round was led by… Prime Engine Laboratoriesan investment firm affiliated with OpenGov co-founder Dakin Sloss, has included investments from Stellantis, FedEx, and Honeywell.
Other deals caught my attention. . .
Dancethe German startup that offers electric bikes and scooters via subscription packages, has added a handful of investors to raise its latest €12 million funding round, and said it now has 10,000 active and paying members.
Electricalan EV technology company based in Long Beach, California, It raised $15 million From the seismic capital.
Colorsa Mexico City-based startup that connects intercity bus riders with bus drivers, has acquired Urbvan, a B2B truck aggregation services company, for $12 million in cash.
revel, a car subscription startup from Spain, has raised €115 million ($123 million). The financing is a mix of debt and equity: €100 million is structured financing dedicated to building the automotive network, and €15 million is equity invested in the company itself. Investors include KKR, Santander Consumer Finance and others who were not named.
Torothe peer-to-peer car-sharing company, may be preparing to pitch for an initial public offering, if that Latest filing Is any indication and if a Report from Bloomberg Citing unnamed sources is a belief. But don’t hold your breath. We’ve been here before. The company first filed its S-1 filing (intentions to go public) in January 2022, and has repeatedly put a pin on those plans as it waits for better economic conditions. Is now the right time?
Notable Readings and Other Stories
Self-driving vehicles
the California Senate Passed a bill that would require a trained human safety operator to be present any time a heavy-duty autonomous vehicle is operating on public roads in the state — effectively banning autonomous vehicle trucks. The bill, AB 316, is now on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
Sea trip The company has unveiled a prototype of a custom-designed, wheelchair-accessible self-driving robotaxi, and said closed-track testing of the self-driving vehicle will begin in October. The vehicle, called Cruise WAV, is the result of three years of product design, development and testing by Cruise and GM, along with its project partners BraunAbility and Q’Straint.
San Francisco It formally asked state regulators to reconvene a hearing in August to expand robotics permits for Cruise and Waymo.
Electric cars, charging and batteries
Kano Well, we don’t do well in the land of public markets. a Deposit on Friday It shows that the company requested a transfer to the Nasdaq Capital Market, a category of early-stage companies with low market capitalization. Why? Canoo faced delisting because its stock price was too low.
the new Elon Musk Walter Isaacson’s biography contained plenty of Tesla tidbits, including a photo of a compact, two-door, two-seat “Cybertruck-like” robotaxi concept.
the European Commission It is considering punitive tariffs to protect EU carmakers from imports of cheaper Chinese electric vehicles, which the agency says benefit from government subsidies.
Rivian CEO Scaring RJ In an interview at the Morgan Stanley Laguna conference, the company discussed how upgrading the hardware in its R1 vehicles — improvements that will be rolled out next year — will reduce costs. One of the biggest gains will come from overhauling the ECU architecture.
Tesla It plans to double its sourcing of components from India to as much as $1.9 billion this year, according to India’s commerce minister.
Gig economy
Lyft A new feature has been rolled out in five US cities, including Chicago and San Francisco, that allows women and non-binary drivers to specify their preference for only female passengers. The preference feature, called Women+ Connect, could help Lyft attract more female drivers to the app, which today stands at about 23%.
Technology inside the car
Google It announced that Google-enabled cars, starting with the Polestar 2 and select Volvo cars, will now enjoy Amazon Prime Video. The company also rolled out new apps on its Android Auto product, including Zoom and Cisco’s Webex for audio-only conference calls.
Get your ticket to TC Disrupt 2023
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