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Welcome back toTechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insight on the time to come of transportation . Sign up here for destitute — just clickTechCrunch Mobility !
Did you lack us last week ? Even with a relatively quiet hebdomad due to the July 4 holiday , there were some notable goings - on . To no one ’s surprise , Fiskerisstill in the news cycleas the company navigates its bankruptcy proceedings . Some interesting tidbit have bulge up follow the announcement of theRivian - Volkswagen Grouppartnership , andUberappears to have unknowingly reignited adebate about fingerprint driversin California .
Plus , band more on the startup front . Oh , and how could I forget ? I interviewedJon McNeill , the co - founding father and better half ofDVx Ventures . reviewer here might be more familiar with Jon from his days as President of the United States of Tesla , COO at Lyft , or more recently as a GM ( and Cruise ) board appendage . Take alisten to this Equity podcast episodeto see Jon and I discourse how Elon Musk ’s pay package has influenced founders , when it make sense to go light on cash and dense on equity , and his firm ’s unequalled feeler to invest that shun the traditional management fee structure .
Did n’t hear enough from me ? My other podcast , theAutonocast , has afresh episodeout that I think y’ all will enjoy . The Autonocast crew chatted withTed Ryan , the brand director for archive and inheritance at Ford , about the history of fueling , how Coca - Cola fit into the enlargement of throttle stations and what this means for EV charging .
permit ’s gooooo .
A little bird
A little bird reached out to us afterVolkswagen GroupandRivianannounced their blockbuster$5 billion deal . If you recall , the two company shared plans to form a joint venture that will tap Rivian ’s expertise on software development and electrical computer architecture and VW ’s recondite scoop and manufacturing art .
But it turn out , VW Group has beentapping into Rivian ’s software program talentfor months now . A little hiss told us that a number of Rivian employee have head over to VW Group ’s software armCariad . A brushup of LinkedIn datum confirm the tip . Cariad has hired at least 23 of the startup ’s top employees over the retiring several months . That is a drop cloth in the bucket of Cariad ’s 6,000 - plus hands . However , we should mark that these hire have all been at Cariad ’s Silicon Valley outpost in Mountain View cry the SDV Hub — an acronym that yield a nod to the so - called software - defined vehicle that every automaker is chase . The SDV hub is ground zero for Cariad ’s next - generation software architecture known as “ package 2.0 . ”
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Cariad has rent Rivian ’s former main software police officer , chief product security officer , two of its frailty President of the United States and two primary engineers . Nearly all of the other hires come from senior package role at Rivian , many of them this year .
make a tip for us ? Email Kirsten Korosec atkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com , Sean O’Kane atsean.okane@techcrunch.comor Rebecca Bellan atrebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com . Or tick outthese instructionsto learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop .
Deals!
Just a clump of interesting deals this fourth dimension around . Here ’s what got my tending .
Altrove , a French startup using AI models and lab automation to create newfangled alternatives to rarefied worldly concern metals , elevate € 3.7 million(around $ 4 million ) .
Cartken , the autonomous vehicle technology startup known for its pavement delivery robots , raised $ 22.5 millionin aggregate with $ 10 million in its latest funding round of drinks guide by 468 Capital . Incubate Fund , mystifying technical school and AI store LDV Partners and Vela Partners , as well as strategic funds from Magna International , Mitsubishi Electric , Shell Ventures and Volex also enter .
Phyron , the Swedish AI video inauguration , raise € 10 million($10.8 million ) in a Series B round conduct by Round2 Capital . Automotive retail hulk Peter Vardy also enter , an investment funds that makes sense considering Phyron has developed software that automatise the creation of Cartesian product video for car dealers .
The Lasso , an online car bid program formerly known as Revv , enhance $ 9.8 millionin early - stage funding split across three tranche . Crosslink Capital and Manresa Ventures were the lead investor . Contour Venture Partners , Liquid2 Ventures , Ritual Capital , Correlation Ventures , and other firms also participated .
Toyotainvested an unrevealed amount intoEV charging web IONNA , a joint venture founded by a growing list of auto manufacturer , let in BMW , GM , Stellantis , Hyundai and Kia .
Zedify , a U.K.-based freight bike delivery web , raised £ 4 million($5.1 million ) in funding with funding from Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital , Mercia Ventures , Midlands Engine Investment Fund ( MEIF ) , and Green Angel Syndicate .
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
Business Insideruncovered a curious detailaboutTeslaand the team of human “ datum annotator ” who are behind drive to amend how its full ego - drive ( FSD ) software performs . Those annotators focus their endeavor on two high-pitched - visibility categories of drivers : Tesla CEOElon Muskand a prime set of “ VIP ” drivers .
Autonomous vehicles
attend Robotics , a pavement delivery golem startup that is now publicly trade , hasexpanded its serve areain Los Angeles to include Koreatown . admonisher : The companionship has said it plans to deploy 2,000 robots in 2025 . That ’s come up !
AWaymorobotaxi waspulled overby Phoenix police after drive into the wrong lane . The incident occurred last month but has gather fresh attention after consistency cam footage from the police police officer was released to the public .
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Fisker Inc. ’sbankruptcy proceedings carry on and there is no shortage of interesting tidbits . It seem the startup has found awilling buyerfor its remaining inventory of all - electric Ocean SUVs . Under the propose deal , American Leasewould buy 3,231 Ocean S.U.V. for $ 46.25 million . As senior reporter Sean O’Kane mention , that works out to around $ 14,000 per fomite — a unconscionable fall from the roughly $ 70,000 start price some of them once control .
Then there was this little nugget that I ’ll admit lift an eyebrow and had me asking , “ What ask so long ? ” Co - foundersHenrik Fiskerand his married woman , Geeta Gupta - Fisker , arelowering their earnings to $ 1 to keep their break EV startup ’s failure proceedings fund .
Also , be sure to ensure out our handy andcomprehensive timelineof Fisker ’s autumn .
Lucid Motorsdelivered 2,394 eV in the second quarter of 2024 , anew disk for the companyand a positive polarity amid its battle to carve out a share of the EV market .
Teslamade it onto the Taiwanese government’spurchase list . This mean Chinese government workers will be able-bodied to purchase Tesla ’s Model Y for prescribed use of goods and services .
Future of flight
Joby Aviation , the startup working to develop a commercial-grade galvanic zephyr taxi , is bestow a new layer to its ambitions : Intercity flight , powered by hydrogen . Meanwhile …
Universal Hydrogen , a inauguration that successfully completed apartially hydrogen - powered flightin March 2023 and bring up about $ 100 million , has shut down , theSeattle Times report .
Software, apps and in-car tech
Google Mapsrolled out anumber of update , including speed indicator and focal ratio bound on iOS and CarPlay .
This week’s wheels
What is “ This week ’s wheel ” ? It ’s a prospect to find out about the different transportation mathematical product we ’re testing , whether it ’s an galvanic or hybrid railway car , an atomic number 99 - bike or even a drive in an autonomous vehicle . In the come in week , we ’ll deal our views on theLectric Onee - bike , theFiat 500e , the2024 Nissan Ariya Empower+ , and more .
