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Ride-Hailing & Robotaxi 🚙🚕

Lucid appoints new CEO (former left February 2025); subsequently raises $200M from Uber (bringing total to $500M) and an additional order of 25,000 robotaxis (total 35,000); also from Lucid’s majority owner, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, the company is receiving $550M through convertible preferred stock. 

The FT calculated that over time Uber invested $2.5 billion in equity stakes and spent over $7.5 billion on securing robotax assets - a total of (to date) $10 billion investment in robotaxi. This makes perfect sense - Uber must assure supply. In the present, the focus is on driver recruitment and incentives; in the future, the focus will be on ensuring the car, the asset. And the best way is to partially own and pre-order.  

Also Uber employees begin Nuro & Lucid robotaxi test rides via the Uber platform in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Wayve raises an additional $60M from AMD, Arm and Qualcomm Ventures. This adds to the $1.2 billion Series D (& the $300M milestone-pending Uber investment). The big news isn’t the money - it is that three semiconductor and computing market leaders are partnering with Wayve. 

Waymo starts public commercial services in Miami and Orlando. In London, Waymo moves from manual driving to autonomous + safety driver. Waymo in the snow. 

Lyft, via flexdrive, is building an 80,000-square-foot (±7,500 sq. meters) autonomous depot in Nashville, for its partnership with Waymo. 

Tesla brings its robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston.

Autocab, the UK-founded taxi (/minicab) dispatch app, has a new CEO - Frans Hiemstra - an Uber veteran. Why is this news? At the time, in 2020, Uber’s acquisition hit waves across the minicab industry. For many drivers and minicab company owners, this was sacrilegious. icabby seized the opportunity and grew market share. Meanwhile, Autocab did not realise its potential, not via the Local Cab platform nor by successfully expanding into Europe. Now Uber had to make a choice - either promote internally from Autocab, a move that will not create waves across the industry, or bring someone from Uber. Enter Frans. Good luck!

Driver-focused ride-hailing apps: In Ireland, Tap a Taxi is a new co-operative app by All Ireland Taxi Representatives Association.The business model is a €300 one-off fee and a monthly €120 subscription fee. 

Go taxi, Japan’s most popular taxi-hailing app, plans to IPO later this year, aiming to raise circa $400M in the process. 

Airbnb rolls out private airport transfers in 125 cities. Guests will be able to book chauffeur rides from the Airbnb app. 

#movingpeople is a part of Mobility Business - a consultancy focused on Innovation, Growth and Autonomy in the Mobility industry.

Autonomous Shuttles, DRT & Bus-Based Mobility 🚍🚌

TPG invests $100M in student mobility company Zum at a $1.7 billion valuation, up from $1.3 billion in the previous round. Funds will be used for organic growth, but M&A isn'‘t ruled out. 

Late night autonomous bus service launches in Seoul, South Korea, on a 22.1km route. Passengers must be seated at all times, and validate their card when boarding and alighting (although the service is free). 

Swvl returns to city rides service in Cairo.

Events to watch our for (& more in the link) in the next 2 months:

Micromobility 🚲🛴

Interview with JET’s CEO, on the journey that started in 2021 from Kazakhstan - where the company now controls 70% market share - to eight countries in Central Asia and LATAM, with Brazil growing from a GMV of $8M in 2024 to $36M in 2025. Future expansion is planned for LATAM. 

Veo expected to launch in Denver - replacing Lime and Bird. Final decision on April 27th, with rollout planned for May 1st and the existing Lime & Bird contract terminating on May 16th. Veo to pay the city $245 per permitted vehicle, with a proposed 9,000-unit fleet. 

Cyprus raises the minimum age for scooter riders from 14 to 17 - but avoids banning the service altogether. 

Delivery - bikes to cars, bots & drones 🍽🧺

Uber acquires an additional 4.5% stake in Delivery Hero for €270M, from Prosus, as Prosus is required to dilute its 27% stake in Delivery Hero following the Just Eat acquisition. Back in May 2024 Uber acquired a ±7% stake for €300M, so now Uber has circa 10%. 

Uber Eats launches “Returns” - customers will now be able to send back eligible retail items purchased on Uber Eats and receive an instant* refund. 

AV Freight, Industrial & Logistics 🚛🚜

Caterpillar acquires Monarch Tractors’ assets. Monarch, which raised $200M since 2018, struggled to both develop the tech and to manufacture tractors, and a recent pivot into software was too little too late. This makes sense for Caterpillar, which will continue developing on the existing tech.  

Rideflux is the first Korean company to receive a permit for paid autonomous truck delivery. Freight delivery services to begin in June. 

DriveU.auto receives strategic investment from Ashdod Port to roll out autonomous terminal tractors; this follows a successful proof-of-concept. This sees DriveU’s transition from a remote driving operator to an autonomous industrial environments player. 

Wojciech Siwik on who pays for the driverless mile: 

I love meeting new people and learning about innovation in mobility. Let’s get-to-know / catch up.

In other news 📰

Moovit for sale. Mobileye, which holds the company, is looking to get $300-400M for Movvit, down from the $915M Mobileye paid for it six years ago. This has to do with the massive challenges MaaS has encountered, but also of the failed Moovit promise to be a part of the autonomous future. Some Moovit stats: 

Slate Auto raises $650M Series C, bringing the total to $1.4 billion. Next up: funding production of its affordable EV truck.

Glydways raises $170M Series C, bringing the total to $250M, and is rumored to be in discussions to raise an additional $250M. Glydways is an autonomous substitute for rail, operating on dedicated lanes. The company is getting ready to launch three operational pilots this year in Atlanta, New York City, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Uber AI Solutions acquires Thriving Springs AI, AI powered employee learning and engagement platform. 

World’s largest drone show - with 22,580 UAVs:

People 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Adam Maher is the new Commercial Account Executive @ CitySwift. 

Baptiste Gautier is the new Director - Flights Supply @ Agoda. 

Brian Caulfield is the new Director @ Trinity Centre for Transport Research. 

Conor Campbell is the new General Manager - Micromobility @ Careem. 

Erich C. Kulterer is the new Head of Operations Truck @ ONLOGIST GmbH. 

John Ioannou is the new Senior Business Growth and Development Manager @ COIL. 

José Carlos Aguilar Bojórquez is the new Marketplace Lead - SSL @ DiDi. 

Justyna Mariańska is the new Marketing Manager @ Express Car Rental.

Mike Schoofs is the new Chief Executive Officer @ TomTom. Mike has been with the company since 2005! Congrats! 

Nadav Cohen is the new Engineering PMO @ XTEND.

Olli Rissanen is the new Director, Autonomous Vehicle Expansion @ Wolt. 

Yann Bauchet is the new “Responsable des mobilités actives & alternatives” @ Transdev. 

Congrats and good luck!

Thank you for reading #movingpeople. If you like what you're reading, please share it with your friends and colleagues so they can benefit from it too.