🏙️Urban Tech Digest - 11.15.2023
A bi-weekly briefing on the intersection between cities and new technologies
📰 Notable News
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is considering a redo of the hearing that granted Cruise a permit to charge for robotaxi rides across San Francisco. Cruise’s permit was suspended in October 24th following its incident where it struck a pedestrian. In the meantime, Cruise has begun layoffs of its operation workers and halted production of its custom Origin vehicle
Uber and Lyft are going their different ways in business strategy, with the former focusing on memberships and horizontal expansion (food delivery, freight), and the latter focused on individual ride growth
Joby Aviation announced their will make their universal charging interface, developed specifically for electric aircraft, freely available to use across the industry, striking similarities to Tesla’s NACS approach.
Joby and Volocopter both held public, piloted demonstration flights in Manhattan this week as part of NYC mayor Eric Adam’s announcement to electrify 2 of the 3 heliports located in Manhattan
Lucid Motors joins the NACS party
LTA Research unveiled Pathfinder 1, its prototype electric airship, to the public as it begins numerous flight tests ahead
A group (Flannery Associates) backed by Silicon Valley’s wealthiest has completed its land purchase in Northern California for a walkable, utopian city. The company now has more than 53,000 acres of land to build on.
NYC is looking towards the private sector for ideas to turn its waterways into blue highways for delivering goods, as part of a potential pilot program to move freight with marine vessels
💰 Funding and M&A
May Mobility, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based autonomous mobility-as-a-service company, raised a $105M Series D round led by NTT
Wonder Group, a NYC-based food delivery startup started by jet.com founder Marc Lore, raised $100M from Nestle alongside a strategic partnership to sell high-tech kitchen equipment and food to businesses
Otovo, an Oslo-based startup helping homeowners transition to solar energy through installations and battery storage systems, raised a $42.8M round from existing investors, including Å Energy, Axel Johnson Group, and Nysnø
Ridepanda, a San Francisco-based D2C e-commerce platform for selling micromobility solutions, raised $7.5M in equity and debt led by Blackhorn Ventures and Yamaha Motor Ventures
Ghost Autonomy, a Mountain View-based company building autonomous driving software for partners, raised a $5M round from OpenAI’s Startup Fund
FreshDirect, a NYC-based online grocery delivery service company, was acquired by Turkish instant grocery delivery startup Getir for an undisclosed amount. FreshDirect was previously sold to Ahold Delhaize and Centerbridge in 2020 for $300M.
Flowbird Group, a Paris-based provider of parking and transportation solutions, is expected to be acquired by EasyPark Group
📊 Trends and Interesting Reads
Biden wants network of 500,000 EV chargers. Two states are getting a head start.
How soon do you have to buy heat pumps and EVs to avoid climate catastrophe?
How cars transformed criminal justice in the US, from the getaway car to the automated speed camera
India’s capital is considering the use of artificial rain to lower some of the world’s most severe air pollution
The City of London has approved 500K square meters for commercial building construction in its financial district, paving the course for 11 new skyscrapers by 2030
A deep dive into the history of urban commuting, from ancient Rome to modern Atlanta
‘The Future of Roads’ report, published by HG Ventures, on how venture-backed technologies have the power to transform our roads