Dynamo Dispatch. Weekly update from Dynamo Ventures covering the latest and greatest in supply chain, mobility, and building venture-scale businesses.
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Weekly Commentary 💭
Big news this week from us at Dynamo. Tune into our social media on Twitter or LinkedIn for the drop!
We Are Dynamo,
Santosh, Jon, Barry, Ted, Clay, Katie, Charles, Leo, and Warren
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Supply Chain 📦
China’s Solar Giants Have a Fix for Their Broken Supply Chain. The supply chain snarl that tripled the price of polysilicon is getting fixed as China spends billions on new factories. Global capacity has already increased by more than 25% in the past two months, and it will more than double by early next year. More specifically, key global producers recently opened new plants with combined capacity of 160K tons a year, adding to a current global fleet of about 620K tons. In addition, another 550K tons of capacity are expected to come online by the end of this year on top of announcements for 1.5M tons of new capacity that would come online in about two years. In other news, Maersk Uses Option to Add Four Methanol Ships to Orderbook.
American Workers Sick With Omicron Add to Manufacturing Woes. A surge in COVID cases hits factory workforces just as they struggle with supply chain issues, rising costs, and booming demand for manufactured goods. In fact, domestically made material input costs have grown at the fastest rate since the 1970s, up 30% y/y in November, while the US manufacturing sector added 26K jobs in December, the slowest growth in six months. Besides, manufacturers are not the only ones facing this problem: Southern California Ports Struggle to Trim Cargo Backlog as COVID-related absences sidelined about 800 dockworkers – roughly 10% of the daily workforce – at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this week. As a result, Imports are Taking ‘Dramatically Longer’ to Reach the US, with various sources indicating that moving trans-Pacific cargo could now take over three months as the average transit times are expected to more than double pre-COVID levels.
December Retail Sales Slip After Record Holiday Season. Early in the holiday season, figures showed record consumer spending despite shortages and rising prices. However, the trend reversed after a sharp slowdown in consumer purchases following a 1.9% y/y drop in seasonally adjusted retail sales from November to December. Spending fell broadly across numerous sectors: Department store sales fell 7%, restaurants 0.8%, and online purchases 8.7% compared with November. Although many economists raised doubts about the sustainability of retail sales, others cautioned that the unexpected drop could be attributed to inaccurate seasonal adjustment due to changes in spending habits.
🌟Trucking Trade Group Warns of Continued Shortages, Bottlenecks. US trucking is expected to remain plagued with equipment and driver shortages this year, and while freight growth is slowing from last year’s pace, the American Trucking Association stated “it is leveling off at a very high level.” Despite pay increases, the industry is short about 80K drivers. Additionally, truckmakers can’t keep up with demand as Truck Orders Reached 365K Units Last Year.
Expect Continued Volatility in the Airfreight Market. Increasing demand for air freight is expected to add on tight capacity, pushing prices and transit times higher. Compared to 2019, airfreight capacity is down 7% primarily due to a slowdown in international air travel reducing available cargo space in passenger planes that historically transported more than half of air cargo. Besides challenges with airline staffing worldwide, gaps in trade and capacity growth are compounding the problem. More specifically, trade between Asia and the US was up 32% since 2019, while capacity growth between the two regions only increased 7%.
Infrastructure Money: ‘Informed Risks’ to Help Guide Rollout. The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is girding itself for increased scrutiny as it prepares to receive $567B from the new bipartisan infrastructure law. The first of four new infrastructure programs overseen by the Federal Highway Administration — a five-year, $27B bridge replacement program — was Unveiled on Friday. In addition to the Federal Railroad Administration shifting its focus to supply chain issues, California ports will benefit from an additional $1.2B over two years based on a budget proposal released this week by Gov. Gavin Newsom as Buttigieg Vows to Fight Container-rate Inflation.
EU to Stage Large-Scale Cyberattack Exercise on Supply Chains. European Union governments are starting to take part this week in a large-scale simulation of a cyber attack affecting multiple member states. The EU simulation comes amid concerns that Russia could couple any aggressive act toward Ukraine with cyberattacks directed at the West. Though the EU has various tools at its disposal to counter and sanction acts of cyber aggression, it doesn’t currently have a framework for effectively coordinating a joint response to a major crisis, the document says. The simulation, which is being proposed by the French presidency of the EU, is expected to begin this month and conclude during a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers at the end of next month. On news right outside the EU, The UK and India Will Start Negotiations on a Free-trade Deal.
Mobility 🚗
🌟The Big Upgrade to the US Power Grid is Kicking Off. The Department of Energy recently launched the Better Grid Initiative to develop new high-capacity electric transmission lines. The plan includes using more than $20B towards various projects designed to create a greener energy system. This is good news for those with a stake in the EV market. If you want to learn more about plans for public investment in energy check out The White House Wants a Robust EV Charging Network.
Bird Launches Multimodal Fleet in Rome. Continuing the trend of micromobility investments in Europe, Riders in Rome can now use Bird eScooters, bikes, as well as mopeds. Rome is the first city to offer riders three electric micromobility options through the Bird app. This could be an important transition in the micromobility space, leading to greater consolidation and easier to navigate user experience. For a general overview of current micromobility trends, look at Micromobility in 2022: Refined, Mature and Packed Full of Tech.
Nuro Unveils Third-Gen Autonomous Delivery Vehicle Built With BYD. Nuro just announced its third generation AV in partnership with BYD. The self-driving delivery vehicle has twice the cargo volume at a higher top speed. The new vehicle also includes temperature controlled compartments for goods. The robot benefits from being about 20% narrower than average passenger cars, giving it more mobility in dynamic spaces. For more on the AV delivery space, Serve Robotics Becomes First Autonomous Vehicle Company to Commercially Launch Level 4 Self-Driving Robots.
Veolia to Open its First EV Battery Recycling Plant in the UK. Veolia announced it would launch an EV battery recycling facility in the UK. It should have the ability to handle 20% of the country’s end of life EV batteries by 2024. The use of recycled materials could cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from battery production by as much as 50%. Greener supply chains for EVs makes them increasingly sustainable as well as more appealing for public investment. For a deeper dive into EV battery sustainability, check out The Race to Make EV Batteries Sustainable.
PlugShare Platform Reaches 2M Registered Users Worldwide. The EV community PlugShare has experienced triple-digit growth in user registration from 1M new app downloads in 2021. The main function of the app is to share information on charging stations and trip planning, leading to a better overall driver experience. This is a good sign for the long-term growth of the EV market. For recent information regarding current public attitudes towards EV adoption, look at Study Finds a Quarter of Drivers Will Avoid EVs for as Long as Possible.
Dott Wins Marseille eBike Sharing Tender. European micromobility company Dott won a competitive tendering to introduce their eBike service in Marseille, France. 1,000 shared eBikes will be available from January 30th. Dott will now be the only micromobility provider in France’s three largest cities. This trend of micromobility companies cornering localities could have interesting long-term implications for the evolution of the market. A big factor stakeholders will have to deal with is the balance between mutually beneficial consolidation and competition. For more on eScooters, consider reading Spin is Pulling Out of Cities That Won’t Regulate eScooters.
Supreme Court Halts Vaccine Mandate That Covered 80M US Workers. “A divided US Supreme Court blocked the centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s push to get more people vaccinated amid a COVID surge, rejecting an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule that would have required 80M workers to get shots or periodic tests.” The auto industry in particular has mixed feelings about the vaccine.
Fundraises and M&A 💸
HeyCharge Raises $4.7M Led By BMW i Ventures. HeyCharge is a low-cost, high-scale EV charging platform. HeyCharge’s solution is aimed at apartment buildings, offices, hotels and other underground infrastructure for EVs. It’s technology doesn’t require an on-site internet connection, connecting over Bluetooth instead, in a plug-and-play setup. The funds will be used to grow it’s platform.
The ePlane Company Raises $5M Co-led By Speciale Invest and Micelio. The ePlane Company was started at the world's largest combustion center at IIT Madras in April 2016. They are building flying taxis to transform the mobility landscape. Additional investors include Naval Ravikant, 3one4 Capital, University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Anicut Capital, Infoedge, Java Capital, and Thought Ventures. The funds will be used to expand their team and advance R&D.
ChargeNet Raises $6.2M Led By Aligned Climate Capital. ChargeNet is a software platform that integrates EV fast chargers, energy storage, and solar power with a payment system. ChargeNet will be deploying it’s first platform at a Taco Bell in South San Francisco by the end of January. The funds will be used to scale their platform across many more restaurants.
Smartlane Raises €6.2M Series A. Smartlane is a SaaS startup that provides AI-based solutions for optimized transportation planning. New investor JOVA Direkt Invest GmbH and existing investors pitched in a combined €4.5M, while the remaining €1.7M came from EU support funds as a part of the European innovation promotion programme. The funds will be used to grow their team and accelerate product development.
DriverReach Raises $7.5M Led By Fulcrum Equity Partners. DriverReach is a recruiting and compliance management platform for the trucking industry. The funding round included participation from CreativeCo Capital. The funds will be used to fuel product development and sales.
WorkStep Raises $25M Led By NewRoad Capital Partners. WorkStep is a workforce hiring and retention platform for the supply chain industry. Additional investors include Prologis Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Social Capital, Quiet Capital, Latitude Ventures, and Engage VC. The funds will be used to scale their platform and grow their team.
eFishery Raises $90M Co-led By Temasek, SoftBank Vision Fund II and Sequoia Capital India. eFishery provides feeding devices, software, and financing for fish and shrimp farmers. The company claims that this is the largest round of funding by an aquaculture tech startup in the world. The funds will be used to scale their platform and expand into the top 10 countries for aquaculture, including China and India.
Foxtrot Raises $100M Led By D1 Capital Partners. Foxtrot is creating the convenience store of the future by offering a curated collection of daily essentials in-store and delivered in under an hour via their app and website. Additional investors include Monogram Capital, Imaginary, Almanac, Wittington, Fifth Wall, Beliade, Lerer Hippeau and Revolution. The funds will be used to open 25 new stores, scaling its merchandising model, and growing its engineering team.
WayCool Raises $117M Series D. WayCool is a tech-enabled agriComm platform that connects farmers to consumers. Investors in this round include LightRock, LightBox, FMO, Lightsmith, World Bank Group’s IFC, Redwood Equity Partners and Gawa Capital. The funds will be used for product development and entering new markets.
project44 Raises $240M Led By TPG, Thoma Bravo, and Goldman Sachs. project44 is a supply chain visibility platform for shippers and logistics service providers. They are going through a record-breaking quarter, reporting ARR bookings of $12.7M for the period and $96.2M in total ARR bookings for 2021. With the new funding, project44 plans on continuing to expand its network through strategic acquisitions, and scaling its technology.
Inxeption Raises $275M Led By Schonfeld Strategic Advisors. Inxeption is a platform that allows commerce businesses to sell their products on Inxeption’s B2B marketplace while providing tools that help them simplify logistics. Additional investors include the Bank of Montreal (BMO) and Coatue. The funds xfwill be used to expand business operations.
Ankorstore Raises $283M Co-led by Bond and Tiger Global. Ankorstore is a B2B marketplace that connects independent brands to independent retailers in Europe. Founded in November 2019, it took them around two years to reach a post-money valuation of $2B. The funds will be used to accelerate growth.
Bolt Raises $709M Co-led By Sequoia Capital and Fidelity Investments. Bolt is a super- app that operates on-demand ride hailing, shared cars and scooters; and restaurant and grocery delivery. This latest funding round comes in the wake of a €600M Series E round just four months ago, also led by Sequoia Capital. The funds will be used for geography expansion and the addition of new business lines, such as 15-minute grocery delivery.
Aptiv Acquires Wind River For $4.3B. Aptiv is a global technology company focused on making mobility safer, greener and more connected. The acquisition allows Aptiv to expand into multiple high-value industries with Wind River’s world-class team and leading intelligent systems software platform. Aptiv will be acquiring Wind River from TPG Capital, the private equity platform of global alternative asset management firm TPG.
Magna Acquires AV Startup Optimus Ride. Magna is a mobility tech and auto supplier company with capabilities in body exteriors, structures, power, vision, seating and complete vehicles solutions. Magna has hired more than 120 engineers from Optimus Ride and acquired its technology, IP and assets. Magna aims to leverage the tech and expertise from Optimus Ride to beef up its efforts in advanced driver assistance systems. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Who's Hiring? 👩💻
Senior Product Designer at Stord in Atlanta, GA (remote ok).
Product Manager at SVT Robotics in Norfolk, VA (remote ok).
Senior Sales at Vector AI in Chicago, IL.
💥 Have you seen any interesting startups recently? Introduce us.
❤️ We would love your support. Please forward to friends and share on social media.
🗞️ If you were forwarded this and found it interesting, please sign up.
🎙 Check out Dynamo's podcast series, The Future of Supply Chain.