Dynamo Dispatch (27/02/23)
Issue 227 | Lime, Volocopter, Dronamics
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 💭
🚢 Welcome to Monday! We’re on the West Coast this week for the TPM 2023 Annual Conference in Long Beach, California, and later in the week we head to Los Angeles for Upfront Summit - give us a shout if you’re attending either event!
🥰 Love reading the Dispatch? Make sure you forward it to anyone looking to stay up to date with all things supply chain and mobility.
Lastly, we bid farewell to Clay who is starting his next chapter in the coming weeks. Thanks for all your contributions to the team!
We Are Dynamo,
Santosh, Jon, and the rest of the Dynamo team (special thanks to Anneli for the editorial)
Note: please add “dynamo@substack.com” to your email client, so you don’t miss future issues due to aggressive spam filters.
Supply Chain 📦
🌟 Food Shortages – Latest: Carrots, Leeks And Cabbages Could Run Low In Weeks As Supermarkets Ration. As a result of harsh weather conditions this past summer, in combination with winter frosts, crop yields were drastically lower across Europe. In fact, the Liberal Democrats called for an emergency Cobra meeting after 4 of the largest supermarkets in the UK announced they will begin placing limitations on produce purchases. For more, consider Spring Is Coming: Time To Plan Growing Crops For The Season Ahead.
Chile’s Green Hydrogen Ambitions On Show In Patagonia. 50% of Chile’s electricity supply is generated by renewables, as it continues to work towards closing all coal plants by 2040. In order to persuade investors and startups alike to harness its renewable resources, the country wants to become one of the top 3 exporters of green hydrogen by 2040. To get more, consider checking out Heat Pumps Up To Three Times Cheaper Than Green Hydrogen In Europe, Study Finds and The Hydrogen Stream: Green Hydrogen Capacity Surged In 2022.
Southeast, Gulf Ports Expect Container Uplift From EV Plants. Automakers and suppliers plan to invest $44B into new manufacturing plants, bringing the two-year investment total to $90B. With an increased influx of containerized freight, the GPA (Georgia Port Authority) expects to have 30-40K additional inbound containers per year. Get more information by reading Dealing With The Shipping Container Crisis.
Uber Freight Declares ‘Electric Trucks Are Finally Here’ With Its First EV Pilot Program. This comes as a collaboration with WattEV’s heavy-duty transportation platform, beginning deployment in Southern California. The program will then begin to expand onwards into Long Beach, North Carolina, and Arizona. For the latest on Uber Freight, read Uber Freight Expects ‘Broad-Based Volume Recession’ In 2023 and Uber Freight Starts Its First Electric-Truck Test In California.
Key Inflation Measure Surges Most Since June. Consumer prices rose up 0.6% in January, up 5.4% y/y. Similarly, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.5% in January, which is up 4.5% y/y. Get more on the economic status of the world by reading Why Today’s Inflation Report Is So Important and Fed Needs A Recession To Win Inflation Fight, Study Shows.
Companies Are Slow To Adopt Robot-Operated ‘Dark’ Warehouses. Warehouses have begun investments in robotics to power their “dark” warehouses to combat a labor shortage in the industry, in which the average salary has increased to $43K as of May 2021, up over $2K since 2019. Automation is already up to 20% in warehouses, from 15% in 2018. For more on automation, consider reading Warehouse Automation Helps With Efficient Inventory Management.
Survey: Nearshoring To Mexico Happening ‘Faster Than Expected’. Nearly 90% of US-based SMBs have plans to shift at least some of their supply chain operations to Mexico in 2023. However, nearly 45% plan to switch all of them due to lower labor costs and a significant manufacturing presence already thriving in Mexico. Get more by checking out Who Are The “Reshoring”/”Nearshoring” Winners and Harnessing Mexico's Nearshoring Potential In Services.
Mobility 🚗
🌟 Lime Reports First Profitable Year, Tests The Waters For IPO. In an industry characterized by the difficulty to break even, Lime has achieved full-year profitability on both an adjusted and unadjusted EBITDA basis, reporting unadjusted EBITDA profitability of $4M in 2022. Lime’s strategy, in contrast to micromobility players like Bird, has been to invest in its own vehicles and develop vehicles that use the same battery, regardless of vehicle type. Lime expects to achieve free cash flow positivity this year or next, and eventually go public, with the improvement of macroeconomic conditions. For more on micromobility, read Electric Micromobility Growing With Scooters, Kits, Unicycles, Urban Conversion and What Does The Rise In Micromobility Mean For The Auto Industry?
Mercedes-Benz Cars To Have 'Supercomputers', Unveils Google Partnership. On Wednesday, Mercedes announced a partnership with Google in a race to match Tesla’s software-powered features for every car with automated driving sensors. The collaboration will be used for better navigation and in Level 3 autonomous driving mode. Mercedes also plans to enlarge the navigation screen to extend across the cockpit of the car. For more on the future of Mercedes’ technology, read Mercedes Adding Luminar Lidar To More Vehicles In Multibillion-Dollar Deal and Mercedes-Benz's Next-Generation Car OS Is Built Around Paid Software Bundles.
Tesla Undercuts Average Us Car By Almost $5,000 In EV Shakeout. After a series of price cuts, Tesla’s Model 3 now sells for $43K which is $4.9K less than the average new car in the US, without including the $7.5K US tax credit for EVs. Simultaneously, the average cost of a new gasoline-fueled vehicle has risen more than $10K since the start of the pandemic to nearly $48K in January. In other Tesla news, read First Tesla Supercharger With ‘magic Dock’ For Non-Tesla Electric Cars Spotted In The Us and Tesla Can't Build In Northern Mexico If Water Is Scarce, President Says.
Ford Lightning Production To Remain Halted For Another Week. Last week, Ford stopped production of its all-electric Ford Lightning pickup after a potential battery issue and a battery fire. After the launch of the Ford Lightning less than a year ago, Ford CEO Jim Farley admitted the company has had a hard time keeping costs in check due to inefficiencies and various recalls. For more Ford news, see Ford Motor Turns to Industry Outsider To Reverse China Slump and Ford Tests Heated Interior Panels That Could Lead To More Range In EVs.
Italy Seeks Alliance With France And Germany To Tame EU Car Emissions Laws. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has come out strongly against the EU’s decision to outlaw the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035. The industry minister Adolfo Urso supported the concerns, saying the EU risked going from relying on Russia for fossil fuels to relying on China for green technologies and raw materials. For more on EU emissions goals, read Fit For 55: Zero Co2 Emissions For New Cars And Vans In 2035 and Volkswagen Faces Possible Recalls After Environmental NGO Wins Emissions Software Lawsuit.
Lucid Shares Drop As EV Maker Misses 2023 Delivery Expectations. Lucid’s stock recently popped briefly after producing 7.2K vehicles last year, above its own production guidance of 6-7K vehicles, but its 2023 production targets are about half of analysts’ targets for the year. Lucid fell $53M short of revenue targets in 2022 and operated at a loss of $2.6B in Q4 of 2022. The business is far from breaking even, and investors are concerned about a lowering demand for the Lucid Air sedan. For more on Lucid, read Luxury EV Maker Lucid Appears To Have A Demand Problem and Lucid Is In Serious Trouble After Terrible Quarter.
Nikola’s Fourth-Quarter Revenue Falls Short As It Delivers Just 20 Trucks. After producing 133 electric trucks in Q4 2022, Nikola only delivered 20 to car dealers. The automaker generated $6.6M in revenue in 2022, about $26M short of Wall Street’s expectations. Nikola expects to deliver 250-350 battery-electric trucks in 2023 and 125-150 of its upcoming fuel-cell trucks this year. For more info on Nikola’s Q4 results, check out Nikola’s Costs Rise Ahead of Hydrogen-Electric Truck Launch and Nikola (NKLA) Q4 2022 results: Deliveries and revenues stumble, but plenty in the works for 2023.
Fundraises and M&A 💸
DEN Outdoors Raises $3M In Seed Funding. The home construction and design management company is based in the Hudson Valley, New York. The seed round was co-led by Crossbeam Venture Partners and Gutter Capital. These new funds will go towards rolling out its latest product line.
Swap Robotics Raises $7M In Seed Funding. SwapRobotics, located in Ontario, is a management platform that has also created electric robots for snow plowing and solar vegetation. The round was led by SOLV Energy and joined by SOSV HAX. The funds will go towards R&D and expanding operations.
CarbonCloud Raises $8M In Series A Funding. The Swedish company has created a climate intelligence and digital wins platform for food and drink producers. The round was co-led by both Peak and Cusp Capital, with additional participation from Maki VC and TS Ventures. The new funds will go towards new product development.
Carmoola Raises $8.5M In Series A Funding. The London-based company provides auto financing for consumers, prior to the point of purchase. The new round was led by QED Investors and included investment from InMotion Ventures and VentureFrends. These funds will go towards product development.
BlueCargo Raises $11M In Latest Funding. BlueCargo, based in Covina, California, is a SaaS-based logistics platform managing container pickups and returns. The round was co-led by Somoa Capital and Left Lane Ventures. The funds will go towards expanding container operations nationwide, beyond California.
AeroCloud Raises $12.6M In Series A Funding. Coming from Chester, United Kingdom, AeroCloud provides an AI and machine learning-powered intelligent airport management system to ease airport operations. The round was led by Stage 2 Capital, with participation from Haatch, I2BF Global Ventures, Playfair Capital, Praetura Ventures, and Triple Point Ventures. Funds will go towards increasing both its customer base and team.
Fortem Technologies Raises $17.8M In Latest Funding. Out of Pleasant Grove, Utah, Fortem Technologies has created a platform for airspace awareness security and defense. The round was led by Signia Venture Partners and DCVC, with participation by Lockheed Martin Ventures, AIM13 Crumpton Venture Partners, and Hanwha Aerospace. The new funds will go towards market expansion and product development.
Electra Vehicles Raises $21M In Latest Funding. The Boston-based company is a software solution provider for improved battery management, lifetime, range, storage, and safety. The round was led by United Ventures and joined by Club degli Investitori, BlackBerry Limited, Stellantis Ventures, and LIFTT. The new funds will go towards boosting operations and R&D.
Dronamics Raises $40M In Series A Funding. Hailing from Bulgaria, Dronamics has created a cargo drone airline enabling faster and more sustainable delivery. Funding was raised from Strategic Development Fund, Speedinvest, Eleven Capital, and Founders Factory. Funds will go towards expediating its go-to-market strategy.
Volocopter Raises $182M In Series E Funding. From Japan, Volocopter is an industry leader in urban air mobility and passenger air taxis. The round was raised from GLy Capital Management, Sumitomo Corp, and NEOM. The funds will go towards bringing Volocopter to the Japanese market by 2025.
Antin Acquires PearlX. Out of Charlottesville, PearlX is a provider of smart grid infrastructure. The financial terms of this deal were not disclosed at this time.
Lumin8 Transportation Technologies Acquires Lightspeed Integrated Communications. Hailing from Castle Rock, Colorado, Lightspeed is a provider of fiber optic services and infrastructure for the transportation sector. The financial terms of this deal were not yet disclosed.
Hydro-Quebec Acquires Great River Hydro. The Westborough, Massachusetts, company is an infrastructure platform for renewable energy, particularly hydroelectric power. The deal is approximated at $2B.
Fiera Infrastructure And Palisade Infrastructure Group Acquires Amp US Power Holdings. Out of Denver, Amp is a provider of renewable energy generation and batteries, including battery storage. The terms of this deal were not disclosed at this time.
Business Building 🛠️
How to Say No. It’s interesting to see that high-performing people struggle to say “no” but have to painfully learn it over time. Here are some templates from people like Naval, Paul Graham, among others - some better than others.
Risk and Regret. “Real risk is the regret (or lack thereof) that might come years or decades later.”
Framework for Product Comms. A simple but impactful framework - see examples in the replies.
Who's Hiring? 👩💻
Be sure to check out the Dynamo website for more job opportunities at our portfolio companies!
Senior DevSecOps Engineer at Skupos in Denver, CO (open to remote).
Shift Coordinator, Fleet Operations at Gatik in Toronto, Ontario.
Quality & Compliance Manager at Manna in Dublin, Ireland.
Random Statistic Of The Week 📈
🥡 According to Rocket Money, a personal finance app, the average American juggled 6.7 subscriptions in 2022, up from 4.2 in 2019. Customers are willing to pay a monthly subscription fee to stream movies, and receive boxes of pet food and/or apocalyptic prep gear. Now some restaurants are pitching the appeal of a subscription model to ensure regular customer visits and steady revenue. P.F. Changs, Panera, Taco Bell, and Pret A Manager want to entice eaters in America, the UK, and France to become “subscribers” in 2023. Check out AP News for more on this “pay-per-chew” trend.