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My typical little story is enough. Let’s jump straight to the news this week. There are plenty of Lyft’s entry into Europe, AV startup Nuro heading to Japan, Lucid Gravity SUV’s first drive, highlights of several New York International Auto Shows, SPAC and more.
Yes, SPAC is back. Or has this financial product really gone?
Now let’s go.
Little bird
Some hope that the little birds will go ahead of many hurdles that many hurdles EVTOLs need to jump before there is a “highway in the sky.” This includes working with rural property owners to set up Vertiports and charging infrastructure. pitch? It adds that your infrastructure could increase your asset value in the future.
I’m digging into this to find out more!
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Great deal!
I was expecting more IPOs in 2025 than the previous year, but SPACS? Say it’s not. Still, here we are making a new merger between self-driving car technology startup Kodiak Robotics and Special purpose acquisition company Ares Acquisition Corporation II.
The transaction is worth Kodiak, which has raised about $243 million so far, and is primoney of around $2.5 billion. New and existing Kodiak institutional investors such as Soros Fund Management, Ark Investments and ARES have funded or committed to more than $110 million in funding to support the transaction.
I spoke with Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak, and asked the obvious question: SPAC? now? why?
“Kodiak has launched driverless now, and we have vehicles on the roads. We have driverless revenues,” Burnett told me. “I think it’s time to grow. I want to take advantage of the tail fin we see in the market.”
A tailwind? I asked him to explain, and Burnett meant a tailwind for the autonomous sector, in contrast to the broader economic market.
“Obviously we’re looking at short-term volatility, which is an understatement,” he said. “But we really think of this as a long-term paper about using AI to transform the transportation market through automation, which is something I’ve always believed in.”
Other deals that caught my attention…
Conifer is a startup that develops electric hub motors that do not have rare earth elements and has raised a $20 million seed round from investors including True Ventures, Mac Ventures, MFV Partners and others. Rohit Sharma of True Ventures has joined the Conifer board meeting.
Kavak, a Mexico-based online used car dealer, raised $127 million in the equity round, cutting its valuation from $6.5 billion to $2.2 billion. The round was co-led by SoftBank Group Corp and General Atlantic. The company also secured new debt of $400 million.
Lyft has agreed to acquire Freinow, a German multi-mobility app that rode its core from BMW and Mercedes-Benz Mobility, for about $199 million in cash. The acquisition will open the European market to Lyft for the first time.
British EV charging startup Nyobolt has raised $30 million in funding led by IQ Capital and Latitude. Strategic partners including Scania Invest and Takasago Industry also participated.
Notable readings and other information
Adas
China has cracked down on how car manufacturers promote the capabilities of driver assistance, banning terms such as “autonomous driving,” “autonomous driving,” and “smart driving.” If you think about Tesla and its “fully autonomous” software right away, it’s worth noting that the automaker has changed its branding. However, Tesla and others are affected by rules regarding ADA’s over-the-air software updates that require testing and government approval.
Self-driving cars
Nuro will begin mapping and collecting Japanese data using self-driving vehicles (modified Prius vehicles) from the US Fleet.
Waymo and Uber are preparing to launch a joint Robotaxi service in Atlanta this summer. Uber opened an “interest list” for Atlanta customers this week. The two companies launched their Waymo on Uber service in Austin in March. Data from market analytics firm Yipitdata shows Waymo Robotaxis, which makes up about 20% of the vehicles Uber provided in Austin in the last week of March.
Zoox is partnered with Stingray Music, offering a curated selection of 16 stations via touchscreens within Robotaxis. Yet another sign Zoox is preparing to launch commercially.
Electric cars, charging, batteries
Lime sends the batteries and e-bikes used in scooters to redwood materials to extract and recycle important minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper.
Kia debuted the 2026 EV4 sedan at the New York International Auto Show. It is the company’s first global electric sedan, designed for customers looking for affordable EVs. Would Americans buy it?
TechCrunch contributor Abigail Bassett spent a day driving a new all-electric Lucid Gravity SUV. Read the full review and find out why she wrote that gravity is “the best over-engineering.”
Libian’s first non-Amazon Bang customer is Hellofresh.
Subaru has announced its second EV, a wagon-like SUV called the TrailSeeker.
The future of flights
Archer Aviation has announced New York City’s proposed aviation taxi network in partnership with United Airlines.
Comfortable ride
Indian market regulators have launched a Gensol Engineering investigation after discovering that there is a suspected misuse of electric vehicle loans. Blusmart, a riding startup connected to Gensol, once considered an emerging Uber rival in the South Asian market, was also swept over the investigation. And now it appears that Blusmart has stopped service in some cities in India.
safety
Hertz customers have been notified of data breach, including personal information and driver’s license. Hertz said the violation was at the heart of a massive hacking campaign by ransomware gangs linked to the prolific Russia-related rumours last year.