Hi ,
Here are the past week's AutoTech and Mobility transactions.
In a rare occurrence, we had not just one, but two automaker IPOs last week.
First up, the long-awaited IPO for Porsche occurred this week. The sale will help Volkswagen raise funds to invest into it’s electrification transformation, while investors get a slice of an emotional brand similar to Ferrari, a brand that similarly managed a successful separation from parent Fiat back in 2015.
In parallel, electric truck company Atlis Motor Vehicles debuted on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Tuesday, and its shares soared, prior to coming back down to earth over the following three trading days. Atlis plans to build all-electric pickup trucks designed to weather rugged work environments, plus its own electric batteries and rapid charging stations in the years to come. All of Atlis's products are still in development, and the company is aiming to build out its battery cells first. Atlis reported having only just over $3.1 million in cash at the end of 2021, but anticipates it will need an additional $418m over the next four years to commercialize its prototype and reach profitability.
For a more detailed monthly recap, check out our
. Enjoy!
Last Week's Auto-Tech Transactions:
Electrification & Alternative Fuels:
Taiwanese battery-swapping company
has signed a $345 million five-year credit facility agreement in order to increase liquidity among uncertain economic conditions. The loan comes from a group of 10 syndicated banks led by Mega International Commercial Bank Co., Ltd. Earlier this month, Gogoro launched its battery-swapping stations and electric scooters in Israel and selected Singapore’s first EV battery swap pilot. (
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, a supplier of power semiconductor and motor control solutions for new energy vehicles, announced its series C financing. As the existing shareholder, Legend Capital continued to support this round of financing. Founded in 2017, Leadrive Technology has been committed to the forward development and production of power semiconductor modules and high-performance motor control units, bringing high-quality electric power to global automotive enterprise customers and consumers. (
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(SVX) recently closed its Series A funding of $8.4 million, with Catalus Capital serving as the lead investor, along with Amplify Capital and How Women Invest, and others to support commercializing and scaling its technology. Improvements to the manufacturing of cathode active material (CAM) are critical to meeting the long-term demand for batteries and exceeding EV automakers’ cost reduction targets. Sylvatex (SVX) is announcing a new production method that delivers premium EV-grade CAM at dramatically lower costs and allows for a broader material input supply base to enable demand growth. The Company’s simpler and more sustainable approach to CAM production is expected to enable a 25 percent reduction in CAM cost, a 40 percent reduction in plant capital requirements, and up to an 80 percent reduction in energy usage. (
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Air Mobility & Space:
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration has chosen two U.S. companies to develop electric propulsion technologies for aircraft, with the aim of introducing this tech to U.S. aviation fleets by 2035. The two companies,
and
, will conduct their work over the next five years. That includes ground and flight test demonstrations, as well as collaborations with other NASA projects focused on electric propulsion, data analysis and flight test instrumentation. The awards, granted under the agency’s Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) program, have a combined value of $253.4 million. Of that, $179 million was awarded to GE Aviation, with MagniX receiving $74.3 million. (
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’s raised $71 million, including equity and debt, and brings SpinLaunch’s overall funding to $150 million. The Series B round was led by ATW Partners LLC and includes participation from Kleiner Perkins, GV, Atma Capital, ONA Capital, Lauder Partners, LLC, McKinley Global Capital LLP, and Tyche Partners. SpinLaunch wants to completely transform how we move things to space. Instead of using a conventional rocket to vertically propel things to orbit, SpinLaunch wants to use an aerodynamic launch vehicle attached to a rotating arm in a large vacuum chamber. That arm will spin faster and faster, until it flings the vehicle to space at around 5,000 MPH. (
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Autonomy, Robotics & AI:
Intel Corporation's self-driving unit
unveiled its filing for a U.S. initial public offering. Mobileye reported first-half revenue of $854 million, a 21% jump from the year-ago period. In 2021, Mobileye posted $1.4 billion of revenue. Mobileye plans to list shares on Nasdaq under the ticker "MBLY." Mobileye has not set a price range for its IPO yet, but Reuters has reported that the company could target a valuation as high as $50 billion for its share sale. (
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closed a $5 million seed round for its autonomous surveying solution CivDot. ff Venture Capital, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm with a strong focus on robotics, among other things, and Alley Robotics Ventures, an early-stage capital venture firm that invests in robotics and automation, led the round, which also included participation from Trimble Ventures. Civ Robotics’ CivDot is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) designed for civil engineering and infrastructure projects like solar farms, roadways, data centers and power plants. (
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Vehicle Assembly, Supply Chain & Logistics:
, a Mesa-based electric truck company, debuted on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Tuesday, and its shares soared. Under ticker symbol "AMV," the company's shares opened at $27.50 and saw its trading halted five times as the price shot upward. Shares closed out at $82.12, a 198% gain for the day. AMV plans to build all-electric pickup trucks designed to weather rugged work environments, plus its own electric batteries and rapid charging stations in the years to come. All of AMV's products are still in development, and the company is aiming to build out its battery cells first. (
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Volkswagen AG set the final listing price for
at 82.50 euros per share, valuing the company at 75 billion euros ($73 billion) as it seeks to prove that the iconic sports-car brand can sidestep the slump in capital markets and pull off Europe’s largest initial public offering in a decade. Porsche marked its first day of trading on Thursday in Frankfurt. (
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said it has secured up to $100 million in funding as the struggling EV startup tries to launch its long-delayed first model, the FF 91. The near-term funding agreements include up to $40 million in convertible notes and warrant exercise payments, and up to $60 million in convertible notes from Hong Kong holding company Senyun International. The announcement comes one month after the company’s latest warning it is running out of money. Despite the infusion, Faraday warned of future cost reductions and layoffs. (
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Have a great week,
Steve Greenfield
678.576.9972
