Hi
,
We highlight recent AutoTech transactions in our
, and have additionally begun providing a weekly update of the past week’s deals.
Enjoy, and Happy New Year from the entire Automotive Ventures team!
Last Week's Auto-Tech Transactions:
Dealer Tech & Auto Commerce:
National Auto Care has acquired
. The agency provides dealership development and finance & insurance (F&I) products and services to automobile dealerships throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the U.S. (
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XLerate Group, a leading nationwide vehicle auction and remarketing company owned by affiliates of Brightstar Capital Partners, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire
, another leading vehicle auction provider. (
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, a startup out of India that has built an app and website for selling used cars and motorbikes, has raised $400 million: a Series G of $300 million in equity and a further $100 million in debt. Alpha Wave Global, LP (which co-led the last round under its previous brand, Falcon Edge Capital) is leading this Series G, with participation from other existing investors. Cars24 is not disclosing who those investors are, but other backers include DST Global, SoftBank Group Corp. Vision Fund 2, Alibaba Group, Tencent, Moore Strategic Ventures, Exor Seeds, Raptor Group AB and around 20 others. (
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Autonomy:
AI chipmaking startup
recently closed a new round of $25 million funding with LITE-ON Technology, a Taiwanese optoelectronic pioneer, as a strategic investor. Other investors included Alltek Technology Corp., PalPilot International Corp., Sand Hill Angels and Gaingels. (
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, a Chinese autonomous driving startup controlled by Great Wall Motors's Chairman Wei Jianjun, has raised nearly 1 billion yuan ($157 million) in a funding round as investors increase bets on smart car technologies. Haomo will use the funds raised from investors - such as Hillhouse Capital's early-stage investment unit GL ventures, Meituan, Qualcomm Ventures and others - to build its talent pool and enhance its R&D capability. The company did not provide details on valuation. (
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announced an investment from TDK Ventures, a subsidiary of TDK. Faction is taking a unique approach to both driverless technology and lightweight vehicle systems that can dramatically impact how we move goods and people. Faction vehicles combine autonomy with remote human teleoperation which allows driverless vehicle systems to be productized without waiting for 100% autonomous technology. TDK Ventures’ investment follows a $4.3M seed round led by Trucks Venture Capital and Fifty Years after Faction participated in Y Combinator’s Winter 2021 startup batch. (
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has raised a $15.4 million A round to bring its smaller, cheaper, more easily manufactured, yet still highly capable lidar to production. The round was led by UP.Partners, with participation from LDV Capital and Contour Ventures. (
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Electrification:
aims to revolutionize the recycling industry and has secured SEK 21 million (USD 2.3 million) in capital from a number of global investors, led by Trucks VC and First Venture. The purpose is to accelerate the development of the company’s market platform. (
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, the company unlocking the full carbon benefit of electric vehicles (EVs), announced $30 million in new funding. The financing comes from an international group of investors including iSun, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISUN), Galway Sustainable Capital, Inc, and Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) as well as strategic individuals from the renewables and real estate sectors, aligned to Hive’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives. (
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Nigerian mobility tech startup
is planning to enter more markets across Africa as it races toward formalizing the continent’s transportation sector after securing $31 million in Series B funding. The latest funding round was co-led by global private equity platform Lightrock, which is making its first investment in the African mobility space and UAE-based international venture capital firm Global Ventures. Others that also took part in the round are existing investors Novastar Ventures and PROPARCO, the French development finance institution, through their Digital Africa initiative. (
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, a technology innovator revolutionizing electric vehicles – inside and outside - with its Smart Inverter System, has raised $21 million CAD in Series A funding. The round was led by a consortium of pension funds and BDC Capital's Cleantech Practice. (
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Shared Mobility & Subscription
— a major European micromobility operator — has raised a $115 million Series D funding round in what it describes as an oversubscribed financing round that, says the company, will power its expansion into new markets. Voi already has scooters in 70 cities across the U.K. and Europe. This round comes after it raised $45 million in only August this year. Total capital raised in 2021 amounts to $160 million, and $500 million since Voi launched. The round was led by The Raine Group and VNV Global AB (which led the last funding round), and included Inbox Capital, NordicNinja VC, Stena Sessan, Kreos Capital and new investors Ilmarinen, Nineyards Equity and ICT Capital and others. (
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On-demand shuttle service and software company
has confidentially filed to go public. Last month Via announced a $130 million round that pushed the on-demand shuttle and software company to a $3.3 billion valuation. The capital event came on the heels of TransitTech, Via’s software platform, doubling year over year to exceed an annual run rate of $100 million. (
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Scott Painter’s latest focus is on
, a blank check company whose shares began trading Dec. 15 on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EVE.U. The company planned to raise $220 million by offering 20 million shares initially priced at $10. On Dec. 17, the company updated that figure, announcing it closed its IPO at $250 million. (
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, a South Africa-based car subscription company that buys used cars from dealerships and rents to customers via a subscription model, has raised $30 million in equity and debt. It comprises $6 million equity and $24 million in debt financing. Naspers Limited, through its early-stage investment vehicle, Naspers Foundry, led the equity round with $3.4 million. Existing investors include Change Ventures, the lead investor from Planet42’s seed round, as well as Startup Wise Guys. (
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Commercial Vehicle Tech & Logistics
, a startup applying technology to next-day package delivery, aims to solve the last mile of delivery — how packages get from fulfillment centers to the customer’s door. It also wants to do it with a unique flair: providing transparency into deliveries that starts with the option of when, where and how customers want their packages delivered and then real-time communication throughout the whole process. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Construct Capital, Bling Capital, Industry Ventures, Fontinalis Partners and Origin Ventures. The latest funding round gives Veho a total of $130 million raised to date. (
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VTOL
(NYSE:JOBY), a California-based company developing all-electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, announced its acquisition of Inras GmbH, a leader in radar system design based in Linz, Austria. The five-person team brings academic and commercial leadership in the design of radiofrequency (RF) systems, processing boards, real-time signal processing and advanced radar sensors. (
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has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Zanite Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ZNTE), a special purpose acquisition company focused on the aviation sector. Embraer will remain a majority stockholder with an approximately 82% equity stake in Eve Holding following the closing of the business combination, including its investment in the PIPE. (
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Many thanks,
Steve Greenfield
678.576.9972
