Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — the destination for transportation’s future news and analysis. Why subscribe to this free newsletter? The emailed version features polls, including this week’s question on the top business model for autonomous vehicle tech. Share your thoughts? Email me at [email protected] with “AV poll” in the subject line.
Now, let’s get started. Luminar, the lidar company, faces a new challenge. Yes, it involves boardroom drama.
First, a recap. Austin Russell, Luminar’s billionaire founder and CEO, was reportedly ousted by the board after an ethics probe. But Russell didn’t disappear.
He resurfaced weeks ago with Russell AI Labs. And now (ominous music): He’s bidding to acquire Luminar.
Sean O’Kane, our senior reporter, broke the story here. He’s uncovered details beyond the SEC filing.
This appears hostile, disclosed by Russell, with Luminar silent. But a source says Luminar’s board approached the founder about it last month, even “encouraged” it.
This suggests some of Luminar’s board want him back, despite the ethics inquiry by three audit committee members that led to his resignation months ago.
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The filing’s takeover proposal is vague but might involve Russell AI Labs acquiring and merging another auto tech firm with Luminar. We’ve learned Russell has options as part of Russell AI Labs’ diligence, viewing it as an incubator.
Deals!
Two significant deals this week are in electric aviation.
First, Beta Technologies used relaxed SEC rules during the shutdown to price its IPO shares. Priced between $27 and $33, it aims to raise $825 million. If investors bite at the high end, its valuation will be about $7.2 billion.
The SEC’s guidance lets IPO-bound firms have statements on items like share price auto-effective after 20 days, even without SEC review. Navan and others are also using this rule for their IPO plans.
Then there’s Lilium, in a very different deal. The electric aircraft startup might be gone, but its tech lives on at Archer Aviation.
Archer won a bid against Ambitious Air Mobility Group and Joby Aviation, acquiring all 300 of Lilium’s patents for €18 million ($21 million). That’s low compared to the defunct startup’s $1 billion+ raised.
What will Archer do with these patents? They’re not saying, but my story has hints.
Other deals I noticed this week …
Airbound, an Indian drone startup from 2020, raised $8.65 million in seed funding led by Lachy Groom of Physical Intelligence. Humba Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and leaders from Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril joined.
Dexory, a London-based warehouse robotics startup, raised $165 million in equity and debt. The $100 million Series C was led by Eurazeo with backers like LTS Growth, Endeavor Catalyst, DTCP, Atomico, Lakestar, Elaia, Latitude Ventures, and Wave-X. They also got $65 million in debt from Bootstrap Europe.
FleetWorks, a logistics startup making an AI dispatcher, raised $17 million in equity and debt, including a $15 million Series A led by Bill Trenchard of First Round Capital. Y Combinator, Saga Ventures, and LFX Venture Partners also joined.
Pony.ai and WeRide got a key approval from Chinese regulators to pursue secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. These autonomous vehicle tech firms already trade on the Nasdaq in the U.S.
Starship Technologies, the sidewalk delivery startup, raised $50 million in a Series C round led by Plural, with Karma.vc, Latitude, Coefficient Capital, SmartCap, and Skaala.
Upciti, a Paris-based smart city software firm, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Notion Capital, plus Point Nine and Chalfen Ventures.
Zepto, an Indian grocery delivery company, raised $450 million pre-IPO, per Bloomberg.
Notable reads and other tidbits
The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the Titan submersible, which killed five on a Titanic tour, didn’t meet manufacturing safety standards.
Stellantis and Chinese autonomous vehicle company Pony.ai plan to build robotaxis for Europe, via a nonbinding agreement. Pony’s self-driving software will integrate into Stellantis’ electric medium-size vans.
While Stellantis explores autonomous vehicle tech, it’s slowing electrification, investing $13 billion to boost U.S. manufacturing over four years. (Canadian labor unions aren’t happy.) They’ll develop five new vehicles by 2029 in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, but only one will be electrified, a shift from their prior strategy.
Uber offers new gig work: digital tasks like uploading photos to train AI models.
Waymo is expanding to London. In 2026, they’ll offer a commercial robotaxi service, their second international expansion after Tokyo.
Waymo also locked in a multiyear deal with DoorDash to deliver goods in Phoenix with driverless vehicles. It’s been a while since Waymo tested delivery, so is this a hint of things to come? I think so.
One more thing …
Thinking about Waymo and delivery made me wonder about the best business model. It’s been a while since our last poll, so please participate if you’re subscribed. I’ll share results next week.
