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Hi there,
Volvo Cars is piling into the corporate VC game with its own tech fund (not to be confused with Volvo Group Venture Capital, the investment arm of the now-distinct heavy vehicle manufacturer).
The Volvo Cars Tech Fund has already made as-yet undisclosed sensor startup investment, and plans global investments across the usual auto tech and mobility fields.
Volvo's investment vehicle follows Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi's new Alliance Ventures, which will commit up to $1B to mobility startups over the next five years.
Our latest Corporate Venture Capital briefing analyzed where auto CVCs new and old are disbursing capital.
The full briefing also covers CVC investment in AI, CPG, and international markets.
Doctor who
Healthcare has drawn a stream of new players hoping to tackle seemingly intractable issues of cost and inefficiency, including the new Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan coalition.
Mobility companies are throwing their hats (and services) in the ring too: Uber launched a Health platform allowing healthcare providers assign rides for patients from a centralized dashboard. Lyft has been in this arena for some time, hiring a health services exec from Google and striking up partnerships for non-emergency medical transport (most recently with Hitch Health).
We dove into how mobility services, drones, and autonomy could impact different areas of healthcare in an Expert Intelligence brief:
Even Travis Kalanick is stepping into health; the former Uber CEO has joined the board of healthcare software startup Kareo, whose founder Dan Rodrigues co-founded a music company with Kalanick in 1997.
As with many things healthcare, solutions are anything but straightforward. A recent study found that offering Medicaid patients non-emergency transport via mobility services did not have a major impact on missed appointment rates.
Check out our Digital Health Newsletter to keep up with all things health tech.
Drive safe,
Kerry
@kerrygwu
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Deal spotlight
Self-driving vehicle startup Aurora Innovation raised a whopping $90M Series A from Greylock Partners and Index Ventures, also adding partners Reid Hoffman and Mike Volpi to its board.
The firm is known for its veteran AV founding cast of Chris Urmson (Google/Waymo), Sterling Anderson (Tesla Autopilot), and Drew Bagnell (Uber ATG).
Aurora had been working quietly away before making a splash at CES, announcing tieups with VW, Hyundai, and Byton. The firm is looking to partner with automakers to develop a full autonomy stack for Level 4 and 5 AVs, which could provide a lift to players with immature or lagging efforts.
We covered Aurora in this week's briefing on the State of Auto Tech in 2018, just before the startup's big raise:
The talent-competitive space has drawn some of tech's largest early-stage fundings; Pony.ai drew a $112M Series A from Chinese investors less than two months ago.
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CB Insights on Auto Tech & beyond
Briefing: The State Of Autotech In 2018
We dive into the state of AVs and other mobility technologies converging to reinvent transportation. Get the slides.
Insurers Are Teaming Up With Car Subscriptions
Assurant and Liberty Mutual are among the insurers forging partnerships with car subscription programs. See the providers.
(Expert Intelligence) Energy utilities invest in electric vehicles
For electric vehicles to outpace gas-powered vehicles, they need easily available charging stations. Check out moves that utilities have made.
(Expert Intelligence) How driverless cars and mobility will impact healthcare
From last-mile logistics to organ shortages, companies are positioning themselves to take advantage of the impact auto tech will have on healthcare. See the trends.
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This week in Auto Tech
A curated mix of recent articles on mobility tech financings, exits, announcements, hirings, partnerships & perspectives.
Deals & Funds
NIO explores IPO. The Chinese EV brand formerly known as NextEV has hired eight banks for a US market listing worth up to $2B.
Reuters
Aurora raises $90M. Veteran VC firms Greylock Partners and Index Ventures participated in the AV startup's Series A. Both investors shared their take on the deal.
TechCrunch / Greylock Perspectives / Index Ventures
May Mobility gets $11.5M. BMW i Ventures and Toyota AI Ventures joined YC and Maven Ventures in a seed round to the autonomous shuttle startup.
CNBC
Smartcar raises $10M. The connected car platform for vehicle apps saw its Series A led by NEA, with Andreessen Horowitz participating.
VentureBeat
Daimler to consolidate control of Car2Go. Daimler is set to buy Europcar's 25% stake in the car-sharing service. The deal would follow a similar move by BMW with DriveNow, ahead of a rumored tieup of the two services.
NY Times
Volvo Cars launches Tech Fund. The corporate venture unit will invest in AI, electrification, AV, and mobility services.
Reuters
News
Ford details AV plans. The company's initial pilot in Miami, FL will involve standard AV tests but also a delivery pilot with Postmates and Dominos and setting up a fleet management center.
Recode
Auto blockchain. BMW has partnered with VeChain Thor, which seeks to create a "digital passport" for vehicles' repair history, insurance, and driver lifecycle. VW has also teamed with IOTA; Porsche is leveraging Berlin-based XAIN in its connected vehicle app.
Finance Magnates
Toyota tabs $2.8B for AVs. The OEM is dedicating Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development, a new unit under its research arm, towards self-driving vehicle research. This Tokyo-based venture will be 90% held by Toyota, with 5% each going to suppliers Denso and Aisin.
Reuters
China issues AV test licenses. The first permits have gone to NIO and SAIC for test driving on a 3.5 mi (5.6 km) public road in Shanghai.
Nikkei Asian Review
Articles, Perspectives, & Studies
AVs can't save cities. A visual essay on the obstacles that may prevent AVs from being a panacea for our mobility woes.
NY Times
Uber, Lyft congest cities. Studies across major US cities suggest ride-hailing services are driving congestion in urban centers.
AP
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New sheetmetal / New tech
Ford's just-unveiled AV deployment strategy involves the usual ride-hailing plans but also a delivery service and the necessary operational support in fleet management.
The company has filed a few patents around autonomous delivery, as well as provisioning and routing autonomous delivery vehicles.
If you're a client, click here to jump right into a search of Ford's AV patents on the CBI platform.
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