BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | 20 FEBRUARY 2023 | VIEW ONLINE ➡️

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What I'm Reading (news from the past week):

During the pandemic, dealers and automakers achieved record margins because the global chip shortage limited their ability to produce cars. While inventory is still well below pre-pandemic levels, fuller lots have led to lower gross margins for dealers. (Link)The chip shortage has eased significantly from its peak in 2021. Some automakers are still feeling pinched more acutely than others. (Link)Mercedes-Benz warned of lower earnings this year amid economic uncertainty and said it would look to sell more vehicles directly in major markets such as Britain and Germany as it continues to target high margins on flat volume. (Link)The Biden Administration’s $7.5 billion EV charging initiative is supposed to help solve the U.S. EV charger infrastructure challenge. EV chargers funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) must be built in the United States. (Link)Lithia Motors, once the smallest publicly traded dealership group before embarking on a multiyear dealership buying spree, surpassed longtime No. 1 AutoNation in new vehicles sold in 2022. Lithia is pursuing a goal of $50 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2025 with acquisitions playing a major role. (Link)The European Union approved legislation that bans vehicles powered with diesel or gasoline from automobile showrooms beginning in 2035. Automakers will be required to cut 100 percent of carbon emissions in new cars sold in the European Union by 2035, according to the new law, making it impossible to sell new cars powered by fossil fuels. (Link)Servicing a car bought from an electric-vehicle startup like Rivian or Lucid Motors looks a lot different than going to your dealer or a local body shop for a repair or maintenance — and that might get the young firms in trouble. (Link)According to PitchBook Data, the 2022 median Seed Stage (the stage at which Automotive Ventures typically invests) pre-money valuation was $10.5 million, demonstrating strong growth over the 2021 median of $9.0 million. (Link)A new generation of artificial intelligence is rolling out across American workplaces. McKinsey estimates that 25% of work activities in the U.S. across all occupations could be automated by 2030. (Link)AutoTech entrepreneurs and dealers take notice of this article from Automotive News. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is going to be a big theme within AutoTech over the next few years, as we replace repetitive tasks with automation. Automotive Ventures wants to hear from entrepreneurs focused on building these solutions for car dealers. We'd like to invest in the next wave of RPA innovation. (Link)Benedict Evans’ new annual presentation is out (this year: "The New Gatekeepers"), and as always, it's worth a read. (Link)Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

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🎙️ Steve's Future of Automotive segment on CBT News covered the latest news on the OEM Agency Model, a new EV subscription product from Hyundai, and the latest on "Right to Repair" laws. (More Here)🎙️ Steve will be participating in the Automotive I/O Conference, Europe's largest digital event dedicated to tech innovation, automotive, and more. March 20th-23rd, 2023. (More Here)🎙️ It was a pleasure catching up with Jim Fitzpatrick from CBT News at the NADA Conference to discuss the big themes that are top of mind for auto dealers right now. (More Here)🎙️ Thanks to NCM Associates and Lee Michaelson for having me up to Charlotte last Monday to present to an auto dealer 20-Group.🎙️ Steve presented on "The Future of Automotive Retail" at the FICO Auto Mastermind event in San Diego. Thanks to Andrew Chow and the entire FICO team.

🌟 MyDealerKPI.com was developed by a dealer, for dealers, as an essential tool to have Key Performance Indicator figures readily available to keep dealerships running at their peak performance. At the click of a button, you can view, track, and project the performance of your dealership, as well as individual associates, across all departments. (More here)

🌟 Rhythmos assembles critical information from legacy systems into a sophisticated system model that can automatically identify, characterize, quantify, and forecast EV charging needs and host utility grid constraints – simultaneously running silently behind the scenes. (More here)

🚘 Dealer Tech & Auto Commerce

S&P Global Mobility has acquired Market Scan Information Systems, a provider of automotive pricing and incentive intelligence. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. (Link to article)

✈️ Air Mobility & Space:

DRONAMICS has raised a total of $40 million in pre-Series A funding from Founders Factory, Speedinvest, Eleven Capital and the Strategic Development Fund (SDF). Large, long-range drones built specifically for cargo have the potential to be faster, cheaper and produce fewer CO2 emissions than conventional aircraft, enabling same-day shipping over very long distances. (Link to article)

🦾 Autonomy, Robotics & AI:

Automotive Ventures is excited to announce our investment in Ottometric. ADAS validation specialist Ottometric has secured US$4.9m in funding for the automated validation of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The seed funding round was led by Rally Ventures and supported by Goodyear Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Automotive Ventures, and other key mobility funds. By drawing on its breadth of knowledge in automotive electronics, AI, computer vision and big data analytics, Ottometric has developed a cloud software platform which automates and streamlines the ADAS development and validation process. (Link to article)China’s lidar maker Hesai Technology raised an upsized IPO in the U.S. at a time the industry is reeling from layoffs, bankruptcy and consolidation. The company makes the sensing technology critical to autonomous driving and increasingly advanced driver assistant systems and raised $190 million from its public offering on Nasdaq. (Link to article)

🛠️ Aftermarket & Repair

Spiffy closed on a $30 million Series C financing round. Edison Partners led the round, which also included existing investors Tribeca Venture Partners, Bull City Venture Partners, IDEA Fund Partners, Trog Hawley Capital, Attinger, and Private Access Network, along with strategic investors Shell Ventures, Goodyear Ventures, and MANN+HUMMEL. Spiffy landed several dealer groups as strategic investors, including Bowers Automotive Group, Qvale Automotive Group, the Sewell Automotive Companies and others. (Link to article)

⚡ Electrification & Alternative Fuels:

Automotive Ventures is thrilled to lead the Seed investment round for eDRV. eDRV, an API-first electric vehicle (EV) charging management solution used at over 7,500 charging locations globally, has closed on a seed funding round with an international set of investors, including Automotive Ventures, NP-Hard Ventures, and Connect Ventures. (Link to article)Global Graphene Group (G3) announced that its subsidiary Honeycomb Battery is set to merge with SPAC Nubia Brand International Corp. (NASDAQ | NUBI), in a deal worth $925 million. Honeycomb Battery will become a public company that trades at the NASDAQ (ticker: NUBI). Honeycomb developed several next-generation battery technologies, which include Li-Metal batteries, Li-S batteries, silicon anodes, and graphene-enhanced cathode materials. The company also developed a solid-state battery technology. (Link to article)ZEEKR, the luxury electric vehicle brand of China’s largest private carmaker GEELY, announced that investors have committed to investing $750 million in its Series A funding round. Its post-money valuation has shot up to $13 billion. The news comes just two months after Zeekr said it had confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the U.S. (

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Motor, which provides a consumer electric vehicle (EV) adoption platform for electric utilities, closed a $7 million Series A investment round co-led by The AES Corporation (NYSE: AES) and Mitsubishi Corporation. Motor offers a first-of-its kind EV adoption program for utilities that makes it easy for customers to start driving electric. The company’s electrification activation platform gets those new EVs connected to the grid by uniquely enrolling customers in utility-managed charging programs when they first get an EV. (Link to article)Indian EV charging and mobility solutions company MAGENTA has raised a total of $40 million in Series B funding through a combination of equity and debt. $20 million of the round was an equity investment. (Link to article)Ionblox, a next-generation lithium-ion battery company announced a second close of its Series B round at an increased $32 million. Strategic partners include original investors Lilium and Applied Ventures who were joined by Temasek and Catalus Capital. The company’s batteries are developed with high-performance lithium-ion cells that have pre-lithiated silicon-dominant anodes. The batteries can address the most demanding use cases such as electric Vertical Take-off and Landing Aircraft (eVTOL). (Link to article)Quino Energy, a CA-based startup commercializing water-based organic flow battery technology licensed from Harvard University, raised $1.25M in Seed funding. The round, which brings the total investment to $4.55M, included Energy Revolution Ventures and Doral Energy Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures. They joined ANRI, and TechEnergy Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to further scale and demonstrate its in situ, zero-waste battery electrolyte production process that turns dyestuff chemicals made from coal tar into long-lifetime battery reactants using the flow battery system itself as the chemical reactor. (Link to article)NanoGraf Corporation, a lithium-battery startup, has raised $65 million to help it build up its Chicago production facilities, joining a wave of investment that has poured into US battery manufacturers. Volta Energy Technologies and CC Industries, Inc. led the round, which brings the total amount raised by NanoGraf to about $100 million. NanoGraf declined to give its valuation. (Link to article)

In 2024, a number of new EU regulations are expected to come into force, which will tighten the obligation of electric vehicle manufacturers and resellers to recycle batteries at the end of their natural lifespan. German battery recycling startup cylib just raised a total of €11.6 million ($12.6 million) to build a battery recycling factory. (Link to article)ZEVX, the worldwide leader in intelligent EV power system delivery, announced closing over $20M in the first tranche of a funding round led by Reynolds Capital, the investment arm of The Reynolds and Reynolds Company. (Link to article)ChargerHelp! a leader in operations, maintenance and workforce development for the EV industry, raised $17.5M in Series A financing. The round was led by Blue Bear Capital with investments from Aligned Climate Capital, Exelon, and previous investors which include Energy Impact Partners and non sibi ventures among a number of other committed insiders. ChargerHelp! will continue to build out their EMPWR reliability software platform, expand their Reliability as a Service (RaaS) offering, and grow their workforce development programs – all essential products and services needed to maintain and repair EV charging station infrastructure. (Link to article)

💲Finance & Insurance:

OpenEyes, an insurtech company serving commercial automotive fleets, emerged from stealth with $18 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners and Pitango, with participation by MoreVC. To date, OpenEyes has raised a total of $23 million. OpenEyes offers commercial automotive insurance to fleets of all kinds at more competitive rates, by reducing the frequency and severity of traffic accidents. Using OpenEyes's innovative technology, fleet managers and safety officers can identify the sources of risk in their fleet, empowering them to implement practices that reduce the frequency of accidents. (Link to article)Roadzen, a global insurance technology company, and Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: VHNA), a special purpose acquisition company, have entered into a definitive merger agreement. Upon the closing of the transaction, the combined company will operate as Roadzen Inc. and expects to be listed on Nasdaq. Roadzen is a leading insurance technology company on a mission to transform global auto insurance powered by advanced AI. (Link to article)

🛴 Micromobility:

Micro-EV subscription startup Dance, which launched in 2020, has raised an additional €12 million in an equity and debt round led by existing investors HV Capital, Eurazeo and BlueYard Capital. Dance was launched out of Berlin, but since last year is now also available in Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna. The company offers electric bikes and mopeds on a monthly subscription basis, which come with servicing, repairs, theft insurance, and replacement bikes in the case of theft. (Link to article)e-Scooter startup Simple Energy has raised over $20 million in its ongoing Bridge round. The company will use the fresh capital to ramp up production of its electric scooter, the Simple ONE. LambdaTest, Purple Moon Ventures along with existing investors Manish Bharti & Vasavi Green Tech were part of the Bridge round. (Link to article)

🅿️ Parking, Traffic & Smart City:

The public transport sector in Kenya is largely traditional, and a majority of operators, especially those in road travel, still require their clients to physically book tickets at their offices even when making advance travel plans. BuuPass is actively looking to promote order in the highly fragmented sector by helping operators to digitize their operations. The company has raised a $1.3 million pre-Seed funding from the Founders Factory Africa, FrontEnd Ventures, Adaverse, Gullít, Five35 Ventures, Renew Capital, Changecom, XA Network, Ajim Capital, ArthaVentures, Daba Finance, Google Black Founders Fund and several angel investors. (Link to article)On-demand shuttle service and transit tech company Via has raised another $110 million, bringing the company’s total funding to around $1 billion. The fresh capital pushes Via’s valuation up to $3.5 billion. 83NORTH led the round, with participation from Exor N.V., Pitango, Janus Henderson Investors, CF Private Equity, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, and ION Crossover Partners. (Link to article)VivaCity is looking to tackle transportation impacts after raising $8.5 million in funding to expand its transport data collection into North America, with the long-term hope to reduce the number of injuries and make traffic safer overall. Viva’s sensors gather anonymized data showing how different street users move (or don’t) through the city. (Link to article)

🚛 Supply Chain & Logistics:

Wisor.AI, an advanced freight booking software solution, has raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Team8. The funding will expedite Wisor’s mission to digitize the global supply chain industry and empower freight forwarders to plan, price and book a shipment in seconds instead of hours or days. (Link to article)Jones Logistics, a national specialized transportation and logistics company, acquired Nationwide Express. Based in Central Tennessee, Nationwide provides dedicated trucking services, warehousing, 3PL logistic services, recycling transportation, and waste management solutions. Its geographic footprint includes operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. (Link to article)

🏭 Vehicle Production & Assembly:

Automotive Ventures has participated in a $7.5m Seed round for Axion Ray. Axion Ray is an early-stage startup that is using machine learning to enable manufacturers to track down issues in unstructured data to build a picture of potential problems before they get out of hand. The investment was co-led by Inspired Capital and Amplo along with Boeing, Tinicum Venture Partners, Automotive Ventures and industry angels. Manufacturers face a dizzying array of potential problems around the products they produce, and it’s challenging to track down issues. In some cases, failing to understand when there is a faulty part could result in costly recalls, and in the most extreme cases, deaths and lawsuits. (Link to article)indie Semiconductor (Nasdaq: INDI) has entered a definitive agreement to purchase GEO Semiconductor, a market leader in video processors for automotive cameras. The acquisition of GEO, a private fabless semiconductor supplier, adds immediate scale to indie’s Image Processing program and enables true sensor fusion of Radar, LiDAR, Ultrasound and Computer Vision solutions in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) applications. (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 a Dealer Principal interested in adopting and investing in new technology, 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.