Deal of the week
Investment activity in aviation — specifically air taxis — continues to ramp up as illustrated by Boeing. The company announced it invested $450 million into Wisk, a startup trying to develop and commercialize electric, self-flying air taxis.
Wisk has been pursuing its eVTOL game plan for nearly 12 years now. The company launched in 2010 as Zee Aero and then merged with Kitty Hawk Corporation. The fifth-generation aircraft — and the team working on it — were spun out of Kitty Hawk under the name Wisk. Boeing helped fund Wisk’s initial launch as a separate company.
Not all eVTOL companies are aiming for autonomous flight. Wisk’s focus on autonomous flight is one of the factors that attracted Boeing.
This new capital will be used to fund the development of the company’s sixth-generation electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Wisk is aiming to bring this sixth-gen aircraft through the lengthy U.S. certification process.
Wisk said the funds are also going to be used for what it describes as an “intensive growth phase” over the next year. For the company, that means preparing to ramp up manufacturing operations and its go-to-market efforts. That doesn’t mean Wisk will be headed to market or producing its eVTOL aircraft in large volumes this year.
However, the company is bullish on its trajectory, going so far as to make a bold forecast that it will achieve 14 million annual flights within five years of its certification.
Other deals that got my attention …
ABB acquired a controlling stake in electric vehicle commercial charging infrastructure company InCharge Energy. ABB initially acquired a 10% stake through its investment in the Series A venture capital funding round in 2020 and has now increased its interest to approximately 60% of InCharge Energy’s issued share capital.
Accell Group, the maker of bicycle brands Batavus, Raleigh and Sparta, was acquired by a consortium led by KKR, Reuters reported. The deal values the bike manufacturer at 1.56 billion euros ($1.77 billion).
BasicBlock Inc., a financial technology company focused on the trucking industry, raised $78 million in debt and equity raise. Autotech Ventures, Clear Haven Capital Management, Emergent Ventures, and Nelnet invested in the company. Existing investors Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, SaaS Ventures and TNT Ventures also joined.
Cowboy, the Brussels-based ebike and services startup, raised $80 million in a Series C round of funding co-led by Exor, HCVC and Siam Capital. Tiger Global, Index Ventures, Eothen, Isomer Opportunities Fund, Future Positive Capital and Triple Point Capital also participated. Cowboy, which has raised $120 million to date, did not disclose its valuation or any sales numbers, but did say that it’s on track to reach 100,000 riders by 2023.
Gopuff, the delivery startup, is reportedly working with banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for an initial public offering in the second half of the year, Bloomberg reported.
Gorillas Technologies is reportedly in talks to buy French delivery firm Frichti, Bloomberg reported.
Hozon New Energy Automobile Co., the Chinese electric vehicle startup, is trying to raise about $500 million before a potential listing in Hong Kong this year, Bloomberg reported.
Jidu, an electric automaker founded by Baidu and Chinese auto partner Geely in 2021, raised $400 million in a Series A round. The funding came from Baidu and Geely and will be used to speed up the automaker’s R&D and mass production process and allow it to showcase its first concept “robocar” — which it classifies as an automotive robot rather than a car — at the Beijing auto show in April.
Laka, the London-based insurer for bike and e-bike owners, raised $12 million in Series A round led by Autotech Ventures with participation from Ponooc, ABN AMRO Ventures, Creandum, LocalGlobe, angel investor Eric Min, and Elkstone Partners.
Mayd, a Berlin-based startup that’s building an on-demand medicine delivery platform in Europe, raised a €30 million (~$34 million) Series A funding round led by U.S. investor Lightspeed Venture Partners. Previous investors Target Global, 468 Capital and Earlybird Venture Capital also participated.
May Mobility, the autonomous shuttle startup, raised $83 million in a Series C investment led by Mirai Creation Fund II, which is managed by Sparx Group Co. New investors Tokio Marine and Toyota Tsusho also participated along with returning backers Toyota Ventures, Millennium Technology Value Partners, Cyrus Capital Partners, 1843 Capital, BMW i Ventures and Bay Lake Ventures. May Mobility has now raised $166 million to date. The new funds will be used to work on future platforms and public deployments of the Toyota Sienna Autono-MaaS equipped with May’s autonomous driving kit by 2023.
Ola Electric raised $200 million in a new financing round that included Tekne Private Ventures, Alpine Opportunity Fund and Edelweiss. The company, which has struggled to deliver its maiden electric scooter to customers, is now valued at $5 billion.
Owl Autonomous Imaging, a company developing monocular 3D thermal imaging and ranging solutions for automotive active safety systems, raised $15 million in Series A funding round led by State Farm Ventures. Excell Partners, Luminate NY Accelerator, Empire State Development, MHNW Consortium, Dr. Sanjay Jha, (the former CEO of both GlobalFoundries and Motorola Mobility), as well as other investors also participated.
Paack, an e-commerce delivery platform that integrates with robotics used in logistics, raised €200 million ($225 million) in a Series D funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. New investors Infravia Capital Partners, First Bridge Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst and returning backers Unbound, Kibo Ventures, Big Sur Ventures, RPS Ventures, Fuse Partners, Rider Global, Castel Capital and Iñaki Berenguer also participated.
Starship Technologies, the autonomous sidewalk delivery bot startup, raised €50 million (just under $57 million based on exchange rates on January 25) from the European Investment Bank, the funding arm of the European Union. Starship Technologies is describing this as a “quasi-equity facility”, meaning there is a venture loan involved in the mix.
Sibros, a connected vehicle platform company, raised $70 million in a Series B funding round led by Energy Impact Partners with participation from Fontinalis Partners, Google, Iron Pillar, Qualcomm Ventures and existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Moneta Ventures.
Swiggy, India’s top food delivery startup, raised $700 million in a new financing round, just six months after securing $1.25 billion, as it aggressively expands its offerings, including the instant-delivery service in the South Asian market. Invesco led the Series K round, which according to a source familiar with the matter values the seven-year-old startup at $10.7 billion.
Vecna Robotics, Massachusetts-based startup developing autonomous forklifts, raised $65 million led by Tiger Global Management with participation from existing investors Blackhorn Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Tectonic Ventures, Drive Capital and Fontinalis Partners. New investors Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners and Impulse also joined.
Zapp, the London-based instant grocery delivery startup, raised $200 million as it tries to compete with Getir, Gopuff, Jiffy, Deliveroo and others hungry for a share of the on-demand convenience market. The Series B round was co-led by Lightspeed, 468 Capital and BroadLight Capital, with Atomico, Burda and Vorwerk Ventures — all previous backers — also participating, alongside Sir Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One champion.
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