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It may have been a short week, but there was still plenty of news, including another Zoox recall, an update on Stellantis-Amazon Partnerships, and some startup funding deals.
Notable items: This week I wrote about patent infringement lawsuits against Carma Technology and Uber. This is not a patent troll situation, and the IP lawyer I spoke to says it will be a challenging case for Uber.
The key point? Founded in 2007 by Sean O’Sullivan, a serial entrepreneur and founder of SOSV ventures, Carma filed a lawsuit against Uber earlier this year, claiming it was infringed on five patents related to a system of riders (or packages) with the capacity of the vehicle. In other words, it’s ride quality.
IP Attorney Larry Ashery provided a money quote explaining why this is such a complicated and challenging case.
“What is important to understand here is that Karma doesn’t just claim five patents. They had a very sophisticated patent sourcing strategy they’ve been working on for the past 18 years.”
Carma’s five patents are part of 30 patent families all related and related to the original filing date. That is important because each of the five alleged patents contains multiple claims that define the legal boundaries of the invention. These individual claims are what Karma claims against Uber, not just the patent as a whole.
This means that Uber will have to deal with and defend each claim that is alleged, making the case even more complicated and difficult to defeat, Ashery said.
Let’s get into the rest of the news.
Little bird
A few months of tiny birds have been squealing us for months about a new self-driving car technology startup that has been quietly locked up for a year. The interesting nuggets about this startup (called Bedlock robotics) are the person behind it. Boris Sofman, who led Waymo’s self-driving truck program and previously co-founded and led the popular consumer robotics company Anki.
The San Francisco-based startup is still in stealth, but my source says it has raised quite a number of venture funds. Bedrock Robotics is working on autonomous driving kits that will be converted into construction equipment and other heavy equipment, according to submissions with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
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Great deal!
Firefly Aerospace received a $50 million investment from Northrop Grumman as part of the Series D round. The investment will further advance the production of medium launch vehicles currently being co-developed by a startup known as Eclipse.
Pallet, a Fremont, California-based warehouse logistics software startup, has raised $27 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst. Bain Capital Ventures, Activant Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners also participated.
Volteras has built a virtual connectivity organization for London-based startups that will allow plug-in EVs to provide batteries that support grids, shutting down a $11.1 million Series A led by Union Square Ventures and signing up for participation from Edenred, Exor, Long Journey Ventures and Wex.
Way Data Technologies, a fleet-managed startup founded by veterans of Lucid Motors and Wolt, raised 2.6 million euros ($2.95 million) in pre-seeded funds led by Pale Blue Dot, earning 10 times more founders and participation from Greens ventures.
Notable readings and other information
Self-driving cars
Describing CEO and founder Marko Bjelonic as a dog on roller skating, Rivr’s four-wheel stair climbing delivery robot will host a ferry package directly from the vehicle van to the customer’s front door as part of the Austin, Texas pilot program. The companies see this small pilot as an important step in solving the unique slices of their end-to-end autonomous delivery journey.
After committing to the US government to halt such relocations under a national security agreement, Tusimple (now Createai) sent a flock of sensitive data (effectively a blueprint for American-made self-driving car systems) to Beijing-owned companies. The revelation first reported by The Wall Street Journal prompted many “unsurprising” responses from several readers and sources within the industry.
Zoox issued its second voluntary software recall in a month following the collision between Robotaxis and one of the e-Scooter riders in San Francisco on May 8th.
According to Zoox, the e-Scooterist fell to the ground just next to the vehicle and said, “The Robotaxi began moving and stopped after completing the turn, but did not make any further contact with the e-scooter player.”
Other Zoox News announced that the company is the “official Robotaxis Partner of Resorts World Las Vegas.” As part of the deal, Resorts World Las Vegas will have a dedicated Zoox branded Robotaxi pickup and drop-off location.
Electric cars, charging, batteries
Tesla CyberTruck is having a tough time. Dozens of unsold Tesla Cybertooks are stacked in Detroit Shopping Center parking lots. And while Cybertruck owners are allowed to trade vehicles for the first time since Tesla came to the market, they will face sudden depreciation. Cargurus recently showed depreciation rates of up to 45%.
Meanwhile, Tesla sales in Europe and the UK have fallen almost half, according to data released by the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The 2015 Volkswagen emissions fraud scandal spills over the automotive sector, urging the company (and others who followed) to move from diesel to hybrids and electric vehicles. Currently, four former Volkswagen executives are receiving sentences for their roles.
In-car technology
Amazon has not worked with Stellantis to create in-vehicle software for car manufacturers. The partnership, first announced in January 2022, was part of a plan to generate $22.5 billion a year from Stellantis software. Stellantis told TechCrunch it would pivot on an Android-based system.