Dynamo Dispatch (2026/02/23)

Issue 363 | Moab, Circuit, Pepper

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 💭

Trade policy whiplash is back. The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s tariffs, but instead of relief, CEOs are scrambling over refunds, reimposition risks, and what comes next. Meanwhile, jet engines are getting a second life powering AI data centers, Japan is mining the Pacific seabed for rare earths, and Amazon just killed a robotics project it unveiled six months ago. Read more below!

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Madelyn, Madison and the rest of the Dynamo team

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Make, Move, and Monetize 📦

⭐ Tariff Ruling Sends CEOs Back to Company War Rooms. The Supreme Court’s ruling striking down Trump’s tariffs offered brief relief before triggering a new scramble. Companies quickly realized it doesn’t answer the most pressing question, whether importers will actually get refunds. CEOs are standing up war rooms, calling lawyers, and modeling supply chains against the risk Trump reimposes tariffs under different legal authority. For businesses already strained, furniture, apparel, tuna canning, the ruling feels less like a reset than a new phase of uncertainty, with some hoping to claw back millions while others say it came too late to save the business. The deeper problem is that tariffs have shifted from a straightforward cost into a messy financial and political strategy problem. Leaders are managing a three-way tension: cash recovery, customer pricing pressure, and not antagonizing an administration that can quickly rewrite the rules. Completely unrelated, Class 8 Truck Sales Start 2026 on a Down Note.

America Imported a Record Amount Last Year Despite Seismic Trade Policy Changes. The US imported a record amount in 2025 even as major tariff changes whipsawed trade flows throughout the year, leaving the overall trade deficit essentially unchanged from 2024. Companies front-loaded imports ahead of expected tariffs, then volumes cooled after the April tariff wave and partial rollbacks, before December ended with a sharp widening driven by a mix of volatile gold flows and strong demand for overseas tech equipment. Essentially, policy shifts changed timing and categories more than they changed America’s underlying appetite for imports. The implication for leaders is that tariffs may reshuffle supply chains and create short-term distortions, but they don’t automatically reduce import dependence without a broader shift in domestic capacity and demand. Expect continued volatility in month-to-month prints—and treat single-month deficit jumps as noisy signals unless the product mix and behavior persist. Also, US Trade Deficit Hits Fresh High Despite Trump’s Tariffs and Is US Trade Policy on a New Path?

Canadian Shipyard Turns to AI Robotics to Automate One of Shipbuilding’s Toughest Jobs. Seaspan Shipyards is investing $1.5M in semiautonomous AI-guided robots from Confined Space Robotics to handle blast-and-paint work on ship and submarine programs. The robots navigate tight, hazardous spaces using grit blasters, grinders, laser ablation, and spray coating tools, reducing worker exposure to fumes and repetitive-strain injuries while improving consistency. Seaspan frames it under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy, with supplier expansion into Alberta. The broader signal is that surface prep and coating is becoming a serious automation target, not just welding. If it works, it could meaningfully improve throughput and predictability in North American yards already squeezed by labor constraints and tightening environmental compliance. For more, check out Seaspan Shipyards Invests $1.5M in AI Robotics for Shipbuilding.

DHL Expands Airfreight Cold Chain Network. DHL is launching a dedicated airfreight cold chain network for temperature-sensitive life sciences products including vaccines, specialty pharma, and cell & gene therapies, backed by a €2B investment in DHL Health Logistics. The build-out spans 30+ GDP-compliant hubs, starting with a Brussels–Cincinnati corridor on a dedicated 777 freighter, with more routes planned across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. The model reduces third-party handoffs, tightens temperature control, and cuts reliance on heavy packaging. The strategic logic is straightforward, as pharma supply chains are shifting toward high-value biologics where compliance and visibility rival cost as priorities. A carrier-controlled backbone means fewer handoffs, less variability, and stronger resilience against capacity shocks and geopolitical disruption, particularly on key lanes like US Midwest to Europe.

Supreme Court Invalidates Trump Tariffs Based on Emergency Powers. The Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs, ruling 6–3 that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act doesn’t give a president open-ended authority to impose broad global tariffs and that tariff-setting is a core congressional taxing power. The decision (authored by Chief Justice John Roberts) rejects the idea that a national emergency declaration can effectively unlock tariff powers unless Congress can stop it with a veto-proof majority, and Trump promptly ordered the IEEPA-based tariffs to cease being collected. The immediate impact is a reset in trade-policy risk. Companies get relief from one major layer of tariff uncertainty, but the administration can still pursue narrower, more established pathways like Section 232 and maintain import pressure through other tools like the de minimis suspension. Related, Why the Supreme Court Ruled Against Trump’s Tariffs.

Early Lunar New Year Spurs Air Cargo Volume Boost. Global air cargo demand got a January bump as shippers pulled freight forward ahead of Lunar New Year, but Xeneta cautions that this strength is largely calendar-driven rather than a clean signal of improving underlying demand. Pricing didn’t follow volumes: average spot rates were slightly softer overall, with Asia-origin lanes particularly weak. The key takeaway for execs is that “more volume” right now doesn’t automatically mean tighter market conditions—watch rates and lane mix, not just headline demand. The next swing factor is whether ocean carriers meaningfully resume Red Sea/Suez routes; if that stabilizes, some freight could drift back to ocean later, but an abrupt shift away from air still looks unlikely in the near term. Completely unrelated, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum Grows Uneasy as Her Investment Plan Stumbles.

Japan Mines Pacific Ocean Mud for Rare Earths to Counter China’s Chokehold. Japan is testing deep-sea extraction of rare-earth-rich mud from a Pacific seabed near Minamitorishima (in its EEZ), aiming to reduce reliance on China, which dominates mining, refining, and magnet production and has recently tightened export curbs affecting Japan. The project is strategically urgent under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with plans for a larger-scale trial next year and a potential supply contribution after March 2028, though skeptics question whether the extreme depth, technical complexity, and costs will ever beat land-based alternatives. If Japan can prove this is economically and environmentally workable, and build the downstream refining/separation capacity, it would meaningfully de-risk defense and EV supply chains for Japan (and potentially partners like the US), even if it can’t prevent a near-term crunch. Also, Rare-Earth Refiner Phoenix Gets Traxys Backing to Boost Supply and No EV Boom, No Rare Earth Magnet Boom: The Demand Reality Facing Critical Minerals for the US Market.

Union Pacific CEO Explains Delay in Revised Merger Filing. Union Pacific pushed its Norfolk Southern merger application to April 30 after the STB flagged formatting issues and UP needed more time for traffic and economic studies. The original filing was rejected January 16 for missing post-merger market-share projections, an incomplete merger agreement, and insufficient detail on control of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. CEO Jim Vena argues the combined railroad would cut interchange delays and that growth would come primarily from truck-to-rail conversion, not poaching share from rivals. The timeline slippage signals rising regulatory risk. The STB is clearly scrutinizing competition and network control closely. If UP can frame the deal as a highway-to-rail shift rather than a competitive land grab, it could reshape pricing and service expectations across US rail, which is precisely what other Class I carriers are watching nervously. For more, check out UP and NS Confirm Plan to Resubmit Merger Application.

Amazon Halts Blue Jay Robotics Project After Less Than 6 Months. Amazon has halted its Blue Jay warehouse robotics project less than six months after unveiling it, clarifying that the system was a prototype rather than something slated for broad rollout. The multi-armed robot was designed to sort and move packages in same-day delivery sites, and Amazon says the team and core “manipulation” technology will be carried into other robotics efforts instead of being abandoned. It’s a reminder that even with more than a million robots already in its network, Amazon is still iterating aggressively, and cutting experiments that don’t clear the bar fast enough. The bigger takeaway is how Amazon is running its automation playbook: rapid trials, quick decisions, and recycling the best components into programs that can scale. For execs and investors, the signal to track isn’t the launch of a new robot name, but which manipulation capabilities actually ship across facilities and show up in safety, throughput, and cost metrics.

How Jet Engines Are Powering Data Centers. Retired jet engines are being repurposed as land-based natural gas turbines to meet surging power demand from AI data centers. Newcomers like FTAI Aviation, ProEnergy, and Boom Supersonic are jumping in precisely because incumbent turbine makers face years long waitlists. The pitch is about speed. FTAI claims a 30–45 day conversion cycle and targets ~2.5GW/year of capacity. Analysts see meaningful incremental supply potential, though these players still need to prove reliability, manufacturing scale, and sustained customer demand.
The broader implication is an emerging “engine-to-grid” supply chain that could ease near-term power bottlenecks for data centers, but it may also tighten an already constrained jet-engine parts market and eventually pressure pricing power in a gas-turbine industry dominated by GE Vernova, Siemens Energy, and Mitsubishi. Related, State Energy Regulatory Approaches to Powering Data Centers.

The Future of Supply Chain 🎙️

Check out our podcast series that’s been running since 2018. On each episode of the Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss innovation, technology, and the most exciting opportunities in supply chain as we build the future of the industry together.

Fundraises and M&A 💸

Certivo Raises $4M in Seed Funding. Seattle-based Certivo develops an AI-powered supply chain compliance platform centered on a Compliance System of Record and an AI agent called CORA that automates documentation collection, regulatory tracking, and requirements mapping. The company will use the funding to expand its AI-native compliance automation platform and support growth as it targets manufacturers and built-world companies navigating evolving regulatory requirements. Suffolk Technologies led the round, with participation from Pioneer Square Labs.

Moab Raises $16M in Funding. Moab develops an AI-native operating system for equipment rental and dealership businesses, embedding AI across workflows to unify and streamline operations. The company will use the new capital to support continued product development and scale its platform as it expands across enterprise rental customers. The round was led by Elad Gil and Ironspring Ventures, with participation from David Yuan and Karim Atiyeh.

Circuit Raises $30M in Angel Funding. Circuit develops a purpose-built AI platform that transforms technical documentation into guided workflows for manufacturing and service teams, integrating with systems such as ERP and CRM to support configuration, quoting, and field service. The company will use the funding to accelerate product development, expand customer deployments, and hire across engineering and go-to-market functions. The $30M round was backed by individual investors.

Onodrim Industries Raises €40M in Seed Funding. Onodrim Industries is an Amsterdam-based defense industrial platform developing capabilities in defense manufacturing, multi-domain sensing, and networked systems to address national security challenges such as border protection and resilient supply chains. The company will use the €40M seed funding to accelerate product development, hire engineering talent, and establish manufacturing and R&D capabilities across Europe. The round was led by Founders Fund, Lakestar, and General Catalyst, with participation from additional funds and angel investors across Europe and the US.

ChipAgents Raises $50M in Series A1 Funding. ChipAgents develops an agentic AI platform for semiconductor design that deploys coordinated AI agents to automate specification analysis, RTL generation, verification, and root-cause analysis across chip development workflows. The company will use the funding to scale its AI platform, expand engineering and research teams, and accelerate global deployment of multi-agent systems for chip design customers. The Series A1 round was led by Matter Venture Partners, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Micron, MediaTek, and Ericsson.

Pepper Raises $50M in Series C Funding. Pepper provides a vertical SaaS platform for independent food distributors, offering tools that support ordering, sales, marketing, accounting, and AI-powered workflow automation. The company will use the funds to expand its end-to-end platform, accelerate development of next-generation agentic solutions, enhance integrations, and scale its go-to-market and customer success teams. The round was led by Lead Edge Capital, with continued participation from ICONIQ, Index Ventures, Greylock, Harmony Partners, and Interplay.

Hapag-Lloyd to Acquire Zim in $4.2B Deal. Hapag-Lloyd is a global container shipping line operating a large fleet of vessels providing ocean freight services across major trade lanes worldwide. The acquisition of Zim will expand Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet to more than 400 vessels with over 3M TEUs of capacity and is expected to strengthen its global network and market share, pending regulatory approval and closing in late 2026. The $4.2B transaction involves the full acquisition of Zim’s shares, with no external financial investors disclosed.

Who’s Hiring? 👩‍💻

Be sure to check out the Dynamo website for more job opportunities at our portfolio companies!

GSE Design & Build Engineer at Lux Aeterna in Denver, CO.

UI/UX Product Designer at Ceto in London, England.

Airspace Manager at Manna in Dublin, Ireland.