Lime is profitable, InDrive raises $150M and Planet42 $100M, Uber’s new app and Sono Motors cancels Sion

InDrive raises $150M; Grab better-than-expected 2022 results isn’t helping the share price; Delhi bans bike-taxi; Uber redesigned app; The Routing Company in the UAE and Scotland; Showfa in Kenya; BinBin acquires Go Sharing; Planet42 raises $100M; Lime is profitable; no Voi in Birmingham; DoorDash expands with Aldi; Meituan enters Hong Kong; ioki + Mobileye and Via autonomous in Germany; Motional nighttime in Vegas; EHang and Volocopter in Japan; Sono Motors cancels Sion and lays off 300 employees; and Arrival raises $50M. Let’s start #movingpeople. 

Ride-Hailing & Taxi, Buses & DRT  🚙🚐

InDrive raised $150M, using (an unusual) debt instrument which is tied to the company’s future performance. InDrive is present in 47 countries, and will use the money to expand into new business vertices, with the goal of becoming a super app. 

Grab reports on 2022: revenue growth and better (but not yet profitable) bottom line. Full year losses came in at $1.7bn, down from $3.5bn in 2021. Based on these results, Grab now expects to be adjusted EBITDA breakeven in Q4/23, ahead of the previously planned sometime in H2/24. The better-than-expected results didn’t help the share price, which fell from circa $3.5 to $3.12 end-of-trade Friday. This, because analysts are worried that the focus on profitability will hurt growth. 

Delhi government issued a ban on bike-taxi (Uber, Ola, Rapido), going into effect immediately. This follows a recent supreme court ruling, and a new government scheme is expected soon. A day later, business was as usual, so the government placed ads in newspapers warning ‘digital platforms’ to discontinue offering rides as it violates existing transport rules. Mind you, that the fines, licence withholding and imprisonment for breaking transport laws are on the drivers, with digital platforms bearing no legal responsibility. It is said that the government plans for its new scheme to allow only EV bikes licences, a step which Uber is objecting, as “such move would put at risk the livelihood of over 100,000 drivers in the city”.  

Uber has a newly designed app. The new design is meant to simplify and personalise customer experience. Booking is simpler and quicker, and the app allows to save locations easily and allows ride tracking on the lock screen (on some iPhone models). For more on TechCrunch, The Verge and Engadget. 

Lyft's cautious strategy now hinders scale and profitability. Lyft chose not to expand internationally and not to diversify into deliveries (but did enter the micromobility space), and those decisions make it harder for the company to have the advantage of scale needed to show profits. This makes Lyft a potential acquisition target, perhaps by a delivery player or a PE. 

The Routing Company signs an MOU with the UAE’s Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to deploy its Pingo technology in the country in 2023 and expands in Scotland with a new DRT service, its 4th Scottish service. In Oxfordshire, a DRT scheme has been replaced by a fixed line service, following residents’ feedback. 

Showfa, a new ride-hailing player in Kenya. Drivers are charged a daily / monthly subscription fee, with no ride related commission. Uber and Tata Motors sign a MOU to bring 25,000 EVs to its network in India. FreshBus (India) raised $3.1M to fund electric buses across India. Dida, ride-hailing in China and a Didi competitor, considers an IPO in Hong Kong. What3words solution is being adopted by UK taxi fleets and dispatch software. A map showing how UK bus services have declined in five years. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedSharing/renting 🚗🛴

BinBin, a Turkish scooter player, acquired Go Sharing. This allows BinBin entrance to the Netherlands and Italy while adding mopeds and e-bikes to its portfolio. 

Planet42 raises $100M in equity ($15M) and debt ($85M) to grow globally. Founded in Estonia, the company operates in South Africa and Mexico. 

‘Silence’, by the Acciona Group, is launching an electric motorbike rental service in Malaga. The company is competing against Cabify and Yego. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMicromobility 🚲🛴

Lime is profitable, achieving $4M EBITDA profitability in 2022. Free cash flow profitability is expected in 2023 or 2024. Lime is a private company, so this is all the info we know. Next up is an IPO, which will happen once the global economy is more favourable. 

Voi E-scooter trial in Birmingham paused as contract ends on March 1st. The local government said that “It was hoped there would be a seamless transition to a new contract but owing to delays procuring the contract while awaiting clarity over national e-scooter legislation, that has not been possible”. 

In London, Canada, a bike-sharing RFP got zero proposals. The city offered $750,000 in capital funding, but next to zero operating funds. This (very small) test-case illustrates the change the industry has gone through - no more growth at any cost, yes to relying on local government subsidies and cooperation.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedDelivery 🍽🧺

DoorDash and Aldi expand nationwide grocery delivery in the US. The expansion covers 38 states and over 2,100 Aldi locations. 

Meituan now enters food delivery in Hong Kong. The plans to do so have been reported here in the past (October 2022) but now the company has started recruiting couriers. Meituan, who has 70% market share in the Chinese food delivery market, is up against Foodpanda (⅔ of the Hong Kong market) and Deliveroo (⅓). 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedAutonomous 🤖

In Germany, DB partners with Mobileye and Nio for autonomous operations. Clever Shuttle will operate the vehicles and ioki will provide the booking and routing software. The project will focus on low-density public transport areas. Starting with 15 vehicles, by the end of the year the project is planned to reach 100 vehicles. Also in Germany, Via partners with the KelRide consortium, inc. EasyMile, for an on-demand, shared and on public roads AV project. 

Motional opens Las Vegas robotaxi service to nighttime hours and introduces ‘Remote Vehicle Assistance’ (RVA), or teledrive, removing safety drivers. Motional is also working with Uber and Lyft to add to their apps control over certain car functions, such as unlocking the vehicle, starting the ride, contacting customer service and controlling the heat and A/C.

Nikola will offer an ADAS system for its trucks from next year in partnership with Plus. Jaguar Land Rover opens three new European self-driving tech hubs - in Munich, Bologna and Madrid - as part of a partnership with Nvidia. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFlying cars 🚁

Hans Christian Andersen Airport together with Copenhagen Helicopter are working on air-taxi infrastructure, with the aim of attracting eVTOL companies. Similar to Blade (which gets mentioned quite a bit here) Copenhagen Helicopter are a traditional helicopter company looking to transition to eVTOLs in the future. 

EHang completes the first passenger-carrying autonomous eVTOL flight in Japan. And Volocopter starts air taxi certification process, in Japan. This coincides with Sumitomo Corporation investing an undisclosed amount in Volocopter’s series E raise. 

In South Korea, Hyundai Motor and six other consortiums are competing for urban air mobility  leadership in a government challenge which includes aircraft operations, air traffic management and vertiport operations. The country aims to have eVTOLs flying in the country by 2025. 

Joby begins testing its eVTOL at the world’s largest wind tunnel, at NASA. Wisk and Archer enter mediation in trade secret theft suit. The case has been going on for two years now, with Wisk suing Archer for allegedly stealing trade secrets. This is the 2nd go at mediation between the companies. 

A longish read on the eVTOL sector in 2023. FAA (US regulators) decision on a special licensing scheme will slow down approval timelines; funding will be a major challenge and we will see more Automotive OEMs and airlines enter the space via investments; and infrastructure regulations (vertiports) are taking shape.  

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedOEMs ⚡️

Not all endings are happy. Sono Motors have been unable to crowdsource the funds required to keep the Sion program, Sono’s own solar-powered vehicle. The company said an estimated 90% of its funding needs for 2023 were dedicated to the Sion EV. Sono Motors will now “pivot our business model to exclusively retrofitting and integrating our solar technology onto third party vehicles”. The company is reorganising, laying off 300 staff. 

Arrival raised $50M by issuing company’s shares to Antara Capital Master Fund LP; Antara is also converting ±$122M of convertible notes into shares, reducing the debt Arrival has by 38% and the annual cash interest expenses by $4.2M. The move sees Arrival diluting its existing shareholders by 50%-70%, to buy only two more quarters’ worth of cash. 

Ola Electric to invest $920M in electric cars and batteries. Mercedes partners with Google to bring Maps and YouTube into its vehicles; integrating into MB.OS, Mercedes’ linux-based operating system. Tik-Tok will also be joining and so will what3words. A long read on Rimac’s EV supercar. 

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedIn other news 📰

Uber Freight partners with WattEV, an electric trucking and charging infrastructure company, to launch Uber's first zero-emission electric truck pilot. The pilot will be conducted with CHEP, a global supply chain solutions, in California.

The most popular delivery combo in the US is Burrito + Cheese. More UberEats eating and delivery trends here. Replace your car with a cargo bike. 38 miles-per-hour electric skateboard. 

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