Dynamo Dispatch (10/24/22)

Issue 213 | LogRock, Solvento, Makersite

Dynamo Dispatch. A 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 💭

🎃 October is flying by. Be sure to take a minute to enjoy the fall colors, folks.

A few weeks back, our amigos over at Solvento announced their $5M raise led by our other amigos over at Ironsping Ventures. Huge shoutout to the team for tackling a big problem affecting LATAM’s unsung heroes: truck drivers. Speaking of trucking, we’d also like to say congratulations to the LogRock team for landing some additional capital from their previous fundraising round back in May! To read more, check out the M+A section below.

We Are Dynamo,

Clay, Santosh, Jon, and the rest of the Dynamo team

Note: please add “dynamo@substack.com” to your email client, so you don’t miss future issues due to aggressive spam filters.

Supply Chain 📦

 ⭐ SoCal’s Container Ship Back-Up Comes To An End. The notorious container ship backlogs at the Ports of LA and Long Beach, which were at the heart of the supply chain crunch during COVID-19, have finally come to an end. Peaking at 109 in January, the queue of ships in line has now fallen below 10. 

As the article above states, this has greater implications for the broader supply chain ecosystem. There are still parts of the chain that are battling congestion, and, just like a funnel, pressure will ease up in the coming months ahead. And while this war with congestion moves into the rearview, we have our eyes set on what’s coming next: the holiday season. Historically, the season from Aug-Oct is a time when ports see an influx of volume. This year, however, the story isn’t exactly the same. 

According to FreightWaves, “[Last] Wednesday, the Port of Los Angeles reported its lowest import total for September since 2009, amid the Great Recession. The day before, the neighboring Port of Long Beach posted its weakest import total for September since 2016.” Inflation, among other factors, is softening consumer demand as spending is directed toward necessities. Retailers, like Levi’s, are cutting prices as they sit on a stockpile of inventory. Don’t get us wrong, while the ease of congestion is a good reason to celebrate, there are other things looming that we’re paying close attention to.

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Worldwide Chip Shortage Spawns An Underground Chinese Market. The ongoing shortage in semiconductors has created an underground black market in China, where stolen or obsolete chips can be sold for highly inflated prices. For more on the chip shortage, check out Qualcomm CEO Explains Why The Chips Story Is 'probably As Good As It Gets'.

IKEA Tests Self-Driving Robots For Deliveries.  IKEA has announced a new partnership with Kodiak Robotics, piloting self-driving deliveries in Texas. For more on autonomous trucking, Self-Driving Trucks, AI, And The Difficulty Of Forecasting The Future Of Trucking. In delivery news, check out We Went For A Ride-Along With A DHL Driver To See What He Thinks Of Their EV Fleet.

Leaked Documents Show Amazon’s Labor Churn Costs Them $8B. Newly leaked documents show that Amazon’s worker churn is well above the industry average, painting a bleak picture of the eComm giant’s ability to retain talent. For more on Amazon’s ongoing worker pressures, Meet The Army of Robots Coming To Fill In For Scarce Workers. 

Despite Macro-Environment, Shipping Lines Have A Chance To Escape A 2023 Crash. With a looming global recession, consumer demand is plummeting, sending shipping rates into a downward spiral. However, carriers have multiple ways to manage capacity and avert a crash in 2023. One is to sell older ships for demolition. In related news, Ocean Freight Rates Are Down, So Why Aren’t Prices On Shelves Dropping? 

The Warehouse Boom Has Changed The Way America Looks, Lives, and Works. Since 2011, after the Great Recession, there’s been more than 2.3B ft² of industrial real estate introduced to the market. Coupled with cheap real estate and the rise of eComm, the shift has fundamentally changed the American landscape physically and psychologically. In similar news, Warehouses Are Losing Their Heat and Blackstone And Prologis Turned Warehouses From Safe And Boring Investments Into White-Hot Assets.

Mobility 🚗

⭐ Biden Awards $2.8B To Boost US Minerals Output For EV Batteries. The funding recipients were strategically chosen by the White House and the Department of Energy (DoE) which include Albemarle ($149.7M),  Piedmont Lithium ($141.7M), and Talon Metal Corp ($114.8M) among others. This is another step in the right direction as the Biden Administration strives to hit its goal of having 50% of vehicles on the road be EVs.

As exciting as this announcement is, it’s important to remember the primary motivation behind these grants: reducing US dependence on Chinese manufacturing and resources. According to Benchmark Intelligence Minerals, “While most of the world’s lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese for batteries is mined outside of China, the majority of all critical minerals for the battery supply chain are further refined and processed in China.” A bulk of these funds are dedicated to ensuring the US is able to get more processing plants up and running. To read more about EV investment by reading US Awards $2.8B In Grants For EV Batteries In 12 States and BMW To Invest $1.7B To Build EVs In South Carolina.

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As Electric Car Production Falls Short, Flippers Step Up. At least 51 of Rivian’s R1T pickups have been flipped online for 106K on average, despite an already 17% price increase to 80K by the manufacturer. For more information on EV production, consider reading This Is Why The Ford Lightning’s Price Keeps Increasing and Giga-Scaling Low-Carbon Batteries: A Chat With Northvolt CEO Peter Carlsson.

Here's Why Convenience Stores Aren't Rushing To Replace Gas Pumps With EV Chargers. Ridiculously high fees, poor EV uptake, and competition from utilities have combined to dissuade convenience stores and gas stations from getting EV chargers despite the recent $7.5B infrastructure bill. For more on EV charging, consider reading A Fight For Control Of Ev Charging Networks.

Waymo To Launch Robotaxi Service In Los Angeles. Using its existing presence in West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Koreatown, and downtown LA, Waymo will begin deploying more than a dozen AVs that will run 24 hours and scale accordingly. To read more about Waymo’s next step by reading Waymo Says It Plans To Launch Its Self-Driving Service In Los Angeles.

Germany To Massively Expand Electric Car Charging Network. In order to continue its 24.8% y/y growth in the total share of EVs, Germany will invest an additional $6.17B into its EV charging network over the next three years. For more about Germany’s impressive EV network, consider reading Germany Commits Billions To Expand EV Charging Stations and Germany To Spend €6.3B On Push For Electric Car Charging Points.

Rolls-Royce Spectre Performance Data Revealed. Today’s data revealed that the upcoming Rolls-Royce Spectre will have a range of nearly 330km, producing 430kW for an estimated price of around $400K. Learn more about the Spectre by reading Rolls-Royce Says It Already Has Hundreds Of US Orders For Its $413K Spectre EV.

Fundraises and M&A 💸

💥LogRock Raises Additional $2M In Seed Funding. LogRock, one of our portfolio companies, is a trucking compliance software provider. Better Tomorrow Ventures led the round that we also participated in. The fresh capital will be used to expand its product suite and grow strong partnerships with other solutions providers.

💥Solvento Raises $5M In Seed Funding. Solvento, another one of our portfolio companies hailing from Mexico, is building the payment and credit infrastructure for the LatAm trucking sector benefiting all parties along the supply chain. Ironspring Ventures led the round with participation from Quona Capital, Proeza Ventures, Zenda Capital, Susa Ventures, 9Yards Capital Supply Chain Collective, and yours truly. The capital will be used to further strengthen its product suite, hire talent and expand its commercial footprint.

LuckyTruck Raises $2.4M Seed Extension. LuckyTruck is an insurtech company in the commercial trucking space. Candid Insurance Investors led the round with participation from Markd, Draper University Ventures, and SiriusPoint. The funds will be allocated to improve the workflow of its platform and add more financial solutions to its suite of service offerings.

OTONOMI Raises $3.4M In Seed Funding. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, OTONOMI is an insurtech company providing carriers with parametric cargo delay insurance powered by blockchain.  ATX Ventures led the round, followed by GSR Ventures, Greenlight Re Innovations, Punja.VC, Altari Ventures, Soundboard Venture Fund, Blackhorn VC, Bering Waters, and REFASHIOND Ventures. A bulk of the fresh capital will go towards team expansion.

Anthro Energy Raises $7.4M In Oversubscribed Seed Round. Anthro Energy builds flexible portable power–aka bendy batteries. Union Square Ventures and Energy Revolution Ventures co-led the round with participation from Voyager Ventures, Emerson Collective, Nor’easter Ventures, Ultratech Capital Partners, and the Stanford President’s Venture Fund. The funds will go towards team expansion and the development of its production process prototype.

Freebee Raises $8M In Series A Funding. Based out of Miami, FreeBee provides free, on-demand transportation for the local communities it operates in. bp Ventures led the round. The capital will be put toward technology development and team expansion.

Makersite Raises $18M In Series A Funding. Makersite is a cloud-based product data management tool that helps companies manage product sustainability, cost, and compliance. Hitachi Ventures led the round with participation from KOMPAS, and Planet A Ventures. The funds will be used “to continue the support of its solutions to its expanding book of clients.”

GlobalFare Raises $20M In Series A Funding. GlobalFare, based out of India, is a provider of technology for materials in the cross-border space. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round with participation from Saama Capital, India Quotient, AUM Ventures, and Stride Ventures. The funds will go towards accelerating growth, growing the team, and scaling the business.

Trendsi Raises $25M In Series A Funding. Trendsi is an online fashion B2B marketplace that makes it easy for sellers to build their businesses by providing wholesale inventory. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with participation from Basis Set Ventures, Footwork VC, Peterson Ventures, Sierra Ventures, and Liquid 2 Ventures. The capital raised will go towards “expanding in merchandise categories where there is strong upward momentum like home decor, accessories, makeup, etc., as well as international expansion.”

Ambi Robotics Raises $32M Via SAFE. Ambi is a startup developing supply chain automation software focused on scaling eComm operations. Tiger Global and Bow Capital co-led the round with participation from Ahren and Pitney Bowes. The fresh infusion of capital will go towards continuing deployments and installations of the startup’s tech and expanding the team.

MaxAB Raises $40M In Pre-Series B Funding. MaxAB is a food and grocery B2B eComm and distribution platform serving a network of traditional retailers across Egypt and Morocco. The round saw participation from new investors such as Silver Lake, British International Investment (BII), and DisruptAD as well as existing investors like  Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, Flourish Ventures, and Africa Platform Capital. The funds will be put towards financing future growth in the eComm sector and expanding both its tech and product teams. 

Banyan Raises $43M In Series A Funding. Banyan built a platform for product purchase data that allows customers to automate expense management. In turn, it helps customers like banks, fintech, hotels, and merchants increase customer engagement and better manage inventories. Fin Capital and M13 co-led the round with participation from FIS Impact Ventures and TTV Capital. The funds will go towards both product and team expansion.

Mullen Automotive Acquires Bankrupt Elms For $240M. Mullen Automotive is making moves so it can manufacture its first EV. Elms (Electric Last Mile Solutions) builds “clean, connected, and customized commercial vehicles that help businesses such as couriers. The purchase will enable Mullen to produce up to 50K EVs annually. 

Quality Gold To Go Public Via Tastemaker Acquisition Corp. Quality Gold is a leading vertically integrated specialty logistics and jewelry distributor. The valuation is expected to be just shy of $1B. The transaction will see Quality Gold strengthen its growth initiatives which include possible M+As in the future.

Business Building 🛠️

Grit or Quit? Tactical Advice for Founders Facing Tough Company Building Decisions. “I don't have any problem with tackling the low-hanging fruit. Eventually, you have to. But you better make sure that you solve for the bottleneck first. Because every bit of low-hanging fruit that you tackle creates an illusion of progress and sunk cost problems.”

Stratechery: An Interview With Replit Founder Amjad Masad. Replit is one of the non-supply chain companies that Santosh admires. This is a great conversation that covers the founding story, enabling developers, and building the future of software engineering.

M&A, Before and After: What Founders Need to Know. A discussion led by a16z Partner, Martin Casado on common M&A issues and his experiences both as observer and participant – including the challenges of integration, frameworks for understanding M&A dynamics, including the “kingmaking dynamic” and the difference between “selling your company” and “getting acquired.”

Who's Hiring? 👩‍💻

Head Of Operations at Sennder in Berlin, Germany..

Full Stack Developer III at Milk Moovement in Toronto, CA (remote ok).

Cloud Software Developer at Coros in Mountain View, CA (remote ok). 

Random Statistic Of The Week 📈

This one is for our coffee lovers. For those who don’t know, Vietnam is the world’s biggest grower of the coffee variety used in instant coffee & espresso and is poised to see record growth this year. Coffee is planted on a little over 1.7M+ acres across Vietnam with a harvested area of 1.6M acres, according to Vietnam’s farm ministry. Check out the full scoop, here.