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I’ve just returned from vacations in Denmark and Germany, where I tried almost every means of transportation, from bikes and scooters to highways and trains. I even took ferries. It’s safe to say that Copenhagen’s cycling culture appealed to me.
The TechCrunch team was as busy as ever thanks to You’re here general meeting of shareholders, several financing agreements and developments in the world of electric vehicles. The big problem: Fisker filing for bankruptcy (chapter 11). Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the bankruptcy filing along with the lead reporter Sean O’Kane article explaining why Fisker failed.
And in case you missed it, I also highly recommend this high-profile article (from late May) by O’Kane that exposes the many problems within Fisker.
A small bird
Do you have any advice to give us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or see these instructions for how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Offers!
This week’s biggest deal comes from an autonomous trucking startup Guarantee. The company raised $200 million in a seed round from existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures, alongside a number of strong strategic investors such as Nvidia, Volvo Group VC, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and many others.
Waabi plans to use the funds to achieve a fully driverless commercial launch in 2025, but that’s not the only reason investors are so bullish on the young startup. Waabi’s fundamental generative AI model is able to reason almost like a human would, without requiring tons of real-world data to train, according to the startup’s founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun. This makes the AI system more capital efficient and easier to adapt to autonomous trucking and beyond.
Urtasun said AI’s ability to become widespread and scale quickly means Waabi can extend the technology to other applications, like robotaxis, humanoids or warehouse robotics.
Other offers that caught my attention…
Bit detection raised a $25 million Series B to further develop its high-resolution radar technology for autonomous vehicles. Investors include Korea Development Bank, HL Mando Corporation, Industrial Bank of Korea and Aju Capital.
Carbon LD raised $28 million in a Series C round led by Toyota’s growth fund, Wired Capital, to advance the circular economy by diverting used tires from landfills. The startup also aims to develop high-performance recycled automotive parts, according to a statement sent to TechCrunch.
RBWEV, a London-based electric vehicle manufacturer that makes new, hand-crafted classic British sports cars, has raised £10 million from Meson Capital Partners. The startup currently offers a Roadster model with a starting price of around $135,000 and plans to launch its GT model later this year with a starting price of $151,000.
Unigrid raised $12 million in a round led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital to make sodium-ion batteries, which promise to be a cheaper and safer alternative that can complement lithium-ion batteries.
Notable readings and other information
Autonomous vehicles
A University of Central Florida A study suggests that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are safer than humans under normal daytime circumstances. But in other conditions, they struggle, according to New Scientist.
California Senator Dave Cortese shelved his SB 915 bill (which would give cities more control over AV deployment) after the Assembly committee proposed amendments that would effectively strip the bill of its original intent . The audiovisual industry sees it as a victory, but Cortese said he would eventually reintroduce it.
Project 3 Mobilitythe autonomous vehicle startup based in Croatia and co-founded by Mate Rimacis expected to make what she describes as a “major reveal” on June 26. As a reminder, the company recently raised €100 million ($107 million) in a Series A funding round that included backing from wholly-owned TASARU Mobility Investments. by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
Chinese automaker and battery manufacturer BYD signed a memorandum of understanding with Ampersand, an African electric vehicle energy technology company, to decarbonize the commercial motorcycle transportation system in Africa. The deal involves Ampersand buying BYD’s battery cells to build around 40,000 electric motorcycles by the end of 2026.
Charging point teams up with South Korea LG Electronics to install more electric vehicle charging stations in the United States. As part of the deal, ChargePoint will provide software to operate LG’s electric vehicle chargers, and LG will provide the hardware needed to strengthen ChargePoint’s network.
Enjoy has hired a few former Tesla employees into leadership roles within its EV infrastructure team, the startup announced. It appears to be part of a growing trend of automakers and electric vehicle charging companies hiring top talent that Elon Musk appears to have fired on a whim six weeks ago.
The last Workers at GM’s battery cell plant in Lordstown, Ohio, voted to ratify a new contract that will give production workers $35 an hour by October 2027, as well as employee benefits and health and safety protections.
You’re here
You’re here held its shareholders meeting last Thursday following an unprecedented social media battle waged by fans of Musk and Tesla. It should come as no surprise to anyone that investors voted in favor of Elon Musk’s astronomical pay package. They also voted to reinstate Tesla in Texas.
Tesla has now begun to fight for legal recognition of this shareholder vote. The automaker wrote to the Delaware judge who in January ruled that Musk’s pay was unfair to say the shareholder vote “had a significant impact” on his decision overturning the pay.
This isn’t the only legal battle Tesla has engaged in over the past week. While some shareholders want to give Musk everything he asked for, others are standing up to him. A group of shareholders sued Musk and Tesla’s board last week, claiming they breached their fiduciary duties and unfairly enriched Musk by allowing the CEO to launch xAI, which they say is a company of competing AI.
Miscellaneous.
Fast trade Startups promising 15-minute delivery have waxed and waned in American cities. But in India, the sector is growing alongside the country’s rapid urbanization. Will Indian fast commerce startups, which are increasingly moving towards the e-commerce market, be able to find product-market fit and strong unit economics where US startups could not?
This week’s wheels
What is “This Week’s Wheels”? This is an opportunity to discover the different transport products that we are testing, whether it is an electric or hybrid car, an electric bicycle or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle. In the coming weeks, we will share our views on Fiat500esome electric bikes, the 2024 Nissan Ariya Empower+and more.