BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | 20 MARCH 2023 | VIEW ONLINE ➡️

One of my favorite reports was released this week: CCC Intelligent Solutions' "Crash Course" report, which provides in-depth coverage and comprehensive data on everything from shifts in driving behavior and advances in vehicle technology to the macroeconomic business and social shifts driving change. (Link)A Mississippi bill aimed at preventing EV manufacturers from bypassing franchised dealers to sell their vehicles has been signed into law. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed the legislation, which had been approved by the Legislature earlier this month. The new law prohibits vehicle manufacturers from owning, operating or controlling their own dealerships, though it does carve out an exception to that restriction for an existing Tesla outlet in the state. That exception is capped at one location. Reeves positioned the law as one that would protect Mississippi’s car dealers. (Link)Tesla has been sued in a pair of proposed antitrust class actions accusing the company of unlawfully curbing competition for maintenance and replacement parts for its electric vehicles, forcing owners to pay more and wait longer for repair services. The lawsuits, filed in federal court in San Francisco, allege that Tesla designed its electric vehicles, warranties and repair policies to discourage owners and lessees from using independent shops outside of Tesla's control. (Link)Google-owned mapping app Waze is adding a new feature to help EV owners find a compatible charger en route. Users, once they have entered their vehicle model and plug type into the app, will be able to find the nearest EV charging stations. To avoid outdated and unreliable information about chargers, Waze said it is leveraging assistance from its community map editors. They will ensure that details about these stations are accurate and up to date. (Link)EV startups, the subject of seemingly limitless industry buzz, raised millions of dollars from investors and would-be customers who were told that an electric future was just around the corner. Instead, many of the stewards of that future are struggling to pay their bills. They are contending with higher costs, government probes, lawsuits, C-suite turnover and investor burnout in a high-interest-rate environment. For many, the EV startup boom is turning into a bummer. (Link)​Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

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🎤 On this week's Future of Automotive segment on CBT News I caught up with Kevin Malik from RunBuggy and we have two new Companies to Watch: Ikon Technologies and ReJoule Energy. (Link)🎤 I'm looking forward to speaking at the Canadian Dealer Excellence East 2023 (CADEX) conference in Halifax, NS on April 5th. CADEX is the largest annual dealership event in the Maritimes. (Link)

🌟Ikon Technologies was founded by car dealers who recognized a serious need in the telematics industry: supporting innovative solutions to manage inventory, improve sales efficiency, increase service revenue/retention, protect auto assets, expand profit, and enhance customer loyalty. (More here)🌟ReJoule Energy recognized how a lack of battery health information could lead to huge waste across the ecosystem, particularly at a battery’s end-of-life, and achieved the goal of enabling repurposing, which extends batteries’ useful lives and allows them to store energy again and again. (More here)

🛠️ Aftermarket & Repair

Access Holdings has announced a $600m capital raise to fund the growth of portfolio company Spotless Brands, a US-based express car wash platform. The capital will be used to scale operations in new and existing markets, including via M&A. (Link to article)

✈️ Air Mobility & SpaceManna Drone Delivery has secured investment from Coca-Cola HBC and announced it is to commence a trial in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area in partnership with multinational real estate development company Hillwood. (Link to article)

🦾 Autonomy, Robotics & AI

Chinese driverless technology startup WeRide.ai has filed confidentially for an initial public offering in the U.S. and is looking to raise as much as $500m. (Link to article)

🚗 Dealer Tech & Auto Commerce

Indonesia-based fintech and used car e-commerce platform broom.id raised US$10m in a pre-Series A funding round. Broom provides financial solutions and operations, allowing dealers to manage inventory, bookkeeping, and various sales instruments to more than 2,000 used car dealers in Jakarta and its surrounding areas. (Link to article)

⚡Electrification & Alternative Fuels

EO Charging, a leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions for fleets, has secured approximately US$80 million in equity investment from Vortex Energy and Zouk Capital. Founded in 2014, EO is focused on smart charging solutions for electric car, van, truck, and bus fleets. (Link to article)India-based all-electric taxi cab service Evera has closed a $7m pre-series A funding round. The funds will be used by the company to expand its electric vehicle cab services throughout the capital and to invest further in technological advances. (Link to article)Green Li-ion, a lithium-ion battery recycling technology, raised $20.5m in Pre-Series B funding. The company has developed a novel technology that processes 100% of all used lithium batteries. It recycles all metals to directly re-manufacture battery-grade cathode material ready for re-use in new batteries. (Link to article)Hypercraft USA, a leading provider of complete electric drive systems for vehicle manufacturers, has raised $6.5 million in seed funding at a post-money valuation of $51.5 million. The round was led by RevRoad Capital. The company is collaborating with 17 unique vehicle manufacturers across multiple transportation segments, including marine, automotive, government, racing, and commercial. (Link to article)Lithium Royalty Corp. raised C$150 million (USD$109 million) in Canada’s biggest initial public offering in 10 months. The company trades under the stock symbol LIRC, and has a diversified portfolio of royalties for lithium projects around the world, including in Canada, Australia, and the US. (Link to article)Lynkwell, an electric vehicle charging platform company that helps businesses and government entities create their own branded charging networks, raised $30 million in a new funding round from Warren Equity Partners. (Link to article)India-based EV battery start-up Pointo raised $3 million. Their 4MW li-ion batteries will be deployed in West Bengal by 2024 and plans to create the biggest battery supply and service chain in India. (Link to article)When Porsche AG partnered with venture studio UP.Labs, the mission was to create six startups over three years all designed to solve the German automaker’s biggest problems and be compelling enough as a standalone business that can attract other customers. On Porsche’s list: software that helps manage and automate the performance of EVs. Pull Systems, the first startup borne out of the partnership, has developed a software product that the two companies say can solve it. Pull Systems announced that it raised $5 million in a seed round led by UP.Partners. (Link to article)Generac Power Systems (NYSE: GNRC) announced a strategic minority investment in Rolling Energy Resources, a provider of electric vehicle load management software used by utilities and electric vehicle owners to monitor, control and optimize charging. (Link to article)3D battery manufacturer Sakuu and SPAC Plum Acquisition Corp I will combine to take Sakuu public. The merged entity will be renamed Sakuu Holdings Inc. and will trade under the ticker symbol ‘SAKU’. The transaction has an estimated enterprise value of $705m USD. This comes at the heels of Sakuu achieving the milestone of 3D printing completely operational performant batteries in custom shapes and sizes since December 2022. (Link to article)BorgWarner has agreed to acquire the electric vehicle solution, smart grid, and smart energy businesses of Hubei Surpass Sun Electric. The transaction has an enterprise value of up to RMB 410 million (approx. $59.36 million). SSE’s electrification business supplies patented electric vehicle charging solutions to customers in China and more than 70 other countries. SSE says it has delivered over 50,000 charging points and has led the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of more than 250 charging station sites. (Link to article)

💵 Finance & Insurance

AI-powered commercial auto insurance company Fairmatic has raised $46 million in new funding, six months after its oversubscribed Series A, bringing its total financing to $88 million. Fairmatic is creating a new commercial auto insurance category with its AI-driven underwriting approach that unlocks continuous savings opportunities for fleets. (Link to article)

 🚢 Maritime

Zeabuz, a Norwegian startup specializing in autonomous solutions for the maritime industry, has received a strategic investment from Yinson Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Yinson GreenTech. Founded in 2019, Zeabuz has developed a proprietary autonomy platform suitable for both new designs and the retrofit of existing vessels. Its business model is to provide autonomy-as-a-service to operators of smaller vessels. (Link to article)ZEN Yachts closed a 5.5 million euro Series A funding round. The yacht gets its own energy from the sun and winds, making it the first truly zero-emissions 50 ft. production. This allows ZEN50 to cruise 4.5-5 knots through the sun's power alone. (Link to article)

🅿️ Parking, Traffic & Smart CityTransportation startup Via announcing its acquisition of Citymapper, the London startup that produces a popular urban mapping app. Financial terms are not being disclosed. Citymapper has around 50 million users globally. (Link to article)

📱Shared Mobility & Subscription

BlaBlaCar will acquire Klaxit, a carpooling service so that you don’t have to drive your car to work every day. BlaBlaCar has its own commuting service called BlaBlaCar Daily. The company matches empty car seats with passengers going in the same direction. It’s an alternative to trains or buses when you want to travel to another city for a vacation or if you want to visit your family. (Link to article)

🚛 Supply Chain & Logistics

Pakistan-based Trukkr, a fintech company that aims to provide financially inclusive products to Pakistan’s logistics sector through its platform allowing users to better manage their supply chain, has raised a $6.4m Seed round. (Link to article)During the pandemic, UniUni managed to grow its business into the largest last-mile delivery provider for fast-fashion juggernaut SHEIN across North America. UniUni has closed CAD$20 million ($15 million) for the first tranche of its Series B financing. (Link to article)

🔗 Vehicle Connectivity & Cybersecurity

Cognosos has raised a growth round from Riverwood Capital with an initial primary investment of $25 million to solidify its position as the leader of intelligent asset tracking. Many of the world's most recognizable brands - including the largest automobile manufacturers - use Cognosos’ real-time location services (RTLS) and process optimization software platform to track their assets’ movements, improve their operational visibility, and maximize productivity safely. (Link to article)

🏭 Vehicle Production & Assembly

EV startup Arrival has received a $300m equity financing line from Westwood Capital and said it seeks to slow its cash-burn rate, as the British company looks to start U.S. van production in late-2024. Arrival expects to achieve its target of a quarterly cash-burn rate of $35 million by the second half of 2023, as layoffs and other cost-cut measures take effect. At the end of 2022, the company had about $205 million in cash and cash equivalents. (Link to article)Israeli voice technology startup Kardome has received a $1 million investment from Automotive Fund, based in Japan. Kardome has developed spatial hearing software that can differentiate who is talking in crowded, noisy environments and outperforms standard voice user interface algorithms. The company’s technology can recognize two or more voices simultaneously in noisy environments, identify the speaker, and track their location in space, all directly on the edge device. (Link to article)

🏎️ Early-stage AutoTech or Mobility founder? We'd love to hear from you.🏁 Interested in investing directly into early-stage AutoTech and Mobility companies? Check out The Automotive Ventures Investment Club (AVIC)📈 Are you an auto dealer interested in investing in early-stage AutoTech? Learn more about the DealerFund here.✨ Looking for our Dealership AutoTech Company Landscape? View that here.✨ Looking for our Mobility Tech Company Landscape? View that here.🚀 Interested in exploring Automotive Ventures' portfolio companies shown below? Check them out here.