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 💭
If you haven’t listened to our latest podcasts we highly encourage it. The first episodes of the year cover alternative fuels in surface transportation, know-your-supplier technology, and the importance of supply chain education.
Thanks for Brendon and Ana for recent intros!
We Are Dynamo,
Santosh, Ted, Barry, Jon, Rachel, and Emily
Note: please add “dynamo@substack.com” to your email client so you don’t miss future issues due to aggressive spam filters.
Supply Chain 📦
Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Drones Mark Commercial Breakthrough. Doosan Mobility Innovation announced it used hydrogen fuel cell-powered drones with a 2 hour flight time to deliver humanitarian aid in remote locations. The drones were able to transport masks, emergency supplies, and medical supplies. Meanwhile, drone commercialization hastens as Pizza Hut Tests Deliveries by Drone and Walmart Plans to Begin Drone Delivery Pilot.
🌟📊Shell Works with Freight Industry to Reduce Vehicle Emissions. The road freight sector accounts for 9% of global carbon dioxide emissions, with demand set to double before 2050. Shell’s climate ambition is to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner. Related, Fuels Institute Explores Decarbonization in Transportation.
📊Shippers Predict Their Biggest Challenges in 2021. In the report, 24.88% of shipping industry respondents stated they struggled with capacity challenges in 2020 compared to the 12.34% that reported the year prior. Also, US Xpress Predicts Freight Market Shortages to Persist as LTL Sector Predicts Favorable Future.
Collaborative Robot Sales Predicted to Rebound in 2021. Collaborative robots could produce a 15%-20% annual growth from 2021 until 2028. This is bright news for the industry that saw sales fade in 2020 during COVID, the first-year revenues showed negative growth for the first time. In the realm of automation, The Rise of Foxconn in Global China.
Ireland’s Brexit Busting Means Sailing Past the UK. The Republic of Ireland is facing logistical challenges as it remains part of the EU while sharing a border with Brexited Northern Ireland. Irish haulers and shippers are seeking to sidestep the new Brexit-born customs while still hitting the European market by taking a new direct route between Dublin and Amsterdam that will launch on January 25th. Elsewhere in Europe, High Cargo Volumes Result to” Pause” in Capacity Guarantee by Lufthansa Cargo.
JB Hunt Says Intermodal Rate Rise Necessary Due to Congestion. Intermodal prices will rise more than 10% in some US markets to recoup costs needed to restore fluidity to the network and support growth according to JB Hunt.
Rolled Cargo Increases at 75% of Ports Worldwide. The rate of cargo at transshipment ports increased 27% m/m in December as rolled cargo increased. Cargo owners and other related parties are flustered by the tight ocean capacity situation, and carriers have added larger vessels and extra loaders to expand their networks. Meanwhile, Maersk Ship Loses 750 Containers Overboard in the Pacific Ocean and Taxation Threatens Maritime Shipping.
Mobility 🚗
Mobileye Plans for Self Driving Technology in Personal Vehicles by 2025. Mobileye has been collecting data from around 1M vehicles over the last 5 years to power HD mapping with contextually relevant micro-data. Mobileye believes this approach vs relying solely on lidar can help them bring AVs to market in under 5 years. Much to Google’s dismay, Trump Pardons AV Engineer Anthony Levandowski.
🌟How Volkswagen’s $50 Billion Plan to Beat Tesla Short-Circuited. The world’s largest carmaker did not consider that EVs emphasize software more than hardware. When VW unveiled the ID.3, their EV to compete with Tesla, issues such as bugs, absent or broken features, along with the inability for engineers to remotely update the car presented themselves.
China Railways to Scale back Network Expansion. China announced it will focus on efficiency and revenue across its network in 2021, rather than network expansion, marking a change of course for the state-owned railway. The network expanded by 20.9% in the past 5 years, increasing railway debt to $845.5B, or roughly 65% of the value of the rail networks total assets. Also in China, Geely and Tencent Partner on Smart Car Technology.
JCB's New Machine Can Fix Potholes in Under 10 Minutes. A machine called the “Pothole Pro'' has been designed to repair ditches in the road in as little as eight minutes. The machine completes the preparation but ends before the refilling process. Although this technology is greatly appreciated by the masses, the refilling stage of fixing potholes will likely be the bottleneck of this solution.
📊Significant Developments in the Battery Industry. This inaugural report covers the industry, research, talent, and policy relating to the most significant developments in the battery industry. EVs are the largest market for batteries today. Currently, 23 countries and states plan to phase out fossil fuel vehicles, including the UK by the year 2030. Related, Warm EV Batteries Could Be More Beneficial and EVgo to Go Public via SPAC.
Biden Roundup: Taking Environmental Action by Looking at Fuel Efficiency Rollbackwhile EV Push Puts Focus on Jobs. One of the first actions taken by President Joe Biden after his inauguration means the almost-certain end of a Trump-era plan to weaken future fuel efficiency regulations. This comes as the US lags far behind the rest of the world in electric vehicle adoption. Biden's goal is to create 1M new auto industry jobs in manufacturing, supply chains, and infrastructure like EV charging stations. Elsewhere, Rivian Names JPM Exec, Claire McDonough as CFO.
Aeva and Denso Collaborate to Bring Lidar Sensors to Mass Market. The two will join on bringing a key sensor for self-driving cars to the mass market. Aeva, founded by two former Apple engineers, makes lidar sensors that help cars gain a 2D view of the road, while Denso is the world’s second-largest auto supplier. Also in AVs, Tesla’s Approach to AVs Won’t Achieve Full Autonomy According to Waymo and Aurora Partners with Paccar to Scale Autonomous Truck Ambitions.
Fundraises and M&A 💸
MotoRefi Raises $10M Led by Moderne Ventures. MotoRefi developed an auto refinancing platform that handles the process, from finding the best rates to paying off the old lender. That new capital will be used to hire more employees and expand its offerings.
FLEXE Raises an Additional $10M in Series C. Seattle-based startup Flexe raised additional capital as a part of its Series C round due to more investor interest than anticipated. The startup offers a way to purchase warehouse space on an on-demand basis and is seeing an increase in online sales amid the pandemic.
Wingcopter Raises $22M in Series A Led by Xplorer and Future Regio Growth. This drone delivery company has been operating commercially in different markets, including in partnering with Unicef for vaccine delivery in remote areas. They will be focusing their efforts on building differentiating hardware and improving on medical supplies delivery.
Dunzo Raises $40M. Dunzo, a Google back Indian hyperlocal courier startup, raises funds after seeing a surge in usage during COVID. As merchants decide to go digital, Dunzo will assist small businesses in their online transformation journey by providing last-mile delivery.
Oqton Raises $40M in Series A Led by Fortino Capital. Belgium company Oqton combines manufacturing software capabilities into one single platform, opening up opportunities for AI and ML automation and optimization. CTO Ben Schrauwen is taking over as CEO as current CEO Samir Hanna steps down to become Chairman. Funds will be used to further mature the company’s AI-based manufacturing software in 3D printing, robotic welding, and CNC machining.
Volta Raises $125M in Series D. Volta is a San Francisco based provider of commerce centric EV charging networks. The capital raise will further accelerate their efforts to increase their investment in product, engineering, and network infrastructure and begin its international expansion.
Lalamove Raises $1.5B in Series F Led by Hillhouse Capital. Chinese same-city delivery specialist Lalamove has accumulated more than eight rounds of financing, with a total amount of nearly $2.5B. Funds will be used to expand into other cities.
Cruise Raises $2B Led by GM and Microsoft. Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of GM, partnered with Microsoft on autonomous vehicles in terms of the investment. This is Microsoft’s first major partnership with an AV company but has previously built tools to assist companies with accelerating vehicle innovation.
Rivian Raises $2.65B Led by T. Rowe Price. Amazon backed startup Rivian is one of the most well-funded EV startups in the world. The funding comes as Rivian gets ready to release its first two vehicles, the R1T pickup truck and the R1S SUV, later this year.
Company Building 🛠️
Founder Ownership at IPO. The purpose of VC is to help grow the pie and overall size of the business in exchange for equity. This is a nice reminder of how that dynamic. That said, founders should be mindful of ownership and understand the dilution they face at each round from pre-seed to exit.
🎧Developers as Creatives. “Jeff Lawson of Twilio shares lessons learned, mindsets, strategies, and tactics — from “build vs. buy” to “build vs. die”, to the art and science of small teams (“mitosis”) — for leaders and companies of all sizes.”
The Daily Walk Habit. I take a 20 minute walk (almost) every day and when I’m exceptionally stressed or need thinking time, I resort to a brisk hike in the woods. The fresh air and movement helps clear the mind. Alex Iskold shares a similar thought in this piece as he outlines his daily walking habit.
Who's Hiring? 👩💻
Systems Integration at Plus One Robotics in San Antonio, TX.
Account Executive at nextmv in Philadelphia, PA.
Software Engineer, Applications at Vizion in Atlanta, GA (remote ok).
Check out other jobs at Dynamo portfolio companies.
💥 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.