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Hi there,
Big news -- This is the second to last issue of the Auto Tech newsletter.
Over the last year, we've moved much of our research behind a paywall, dubbed Expert Intelligence, for our paying clients and that is where our mobility coverage is now going.
If you'd like to continue to access to our mobility research as well as the data that underlies it, you should set up a free trial to the CB Insights platform. Once logged in, you can also see all the mobility / auto tech research here.
We look forward to having you as clients.
Staying connected
Amidst the bumper crop of autonomous driving software and hardware startups, auto incumbents have continued investing into connected vehicle companies.
Bets range from connected AI dashcams to cybersecurity platforms, voice assistants, and many more. We analyzed the full range of OEM and supplier investments since 2013 with our business social graph:
We also built a full market map of startups working in the connected car space that clients can access here.
The factories of the future
Advancements in disparate industrial tech trends are driving steady improvements in manufacturing. Manufacturers are bullish, predicting that overall efficiency will grow annually over the next five years at 7x the growth rate since 1990.
From product R&D to assembly to supply chain management, our deep-dive looks at the eight steps of manufacturing that technology will reshape over the coming years.
Drive safe,
Kerry
@kerrygwu
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Deal spotlight
Chinese e-commerce and delivery giant Meituan-Dianping is buying bike-sharing startup Mobike for a reported equity value of $2.7B.
Mobike claims to service 30 million rides daily, but has been rapidly burning cash in an intense battle with rival Ofo and other competitors. Ofo and Mobike were early pioneers in dockless bike-sharing and have accounted for over $2B of aggregate funding to date in the white-hot space.
Mobike might pair nicely with its new parent's logistics operations, but Meituan-Dianping has also been aggressively targeting transportation services in their own right. The firm is launching a ride-hailing service to challenge Didi Chuxing's dominant position; for its part, Didi is now piloting food delivery that will compete with one of Meituan-Dianping's core businesses.
The deal also reflects the fierce competition between strategic Chinese backers, with mutual Meituan and Mobike investor Tencent reportedly brokering the acquisition. Mobike rival Ofo, meanwhile, has been backed by Alibaba and Didi Chuxing; the latter snapped up the assets of failed bike-sharing startup Bluegogo in January.
The move was echoed by a smaller deal out West, with Uber snapping up Jump Bikes for somewhere around $200M (recall that Uber partnered with Jump for SF's first dockless bike-share just two months ago). Both Jump and Mobike will operate independently for the time being.
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CB Insights hits
Where auto giants are placing their connected car bets
From Daimler to Denso, automakers and suppliers are tapping startups to ramp up their capabilities in the connected car space. Check out the graphic.
How technology is transforming manufacturing
From advanced robotics in R&D labs to computer vision in warehouses, technology is making an impact on every step of the manufacturing process. See the trends.
The global bike-share boom
Since their introduction in 2015, dockless bike-sharing systems have moved from East to West as they sweep through urban transportation markets. Check out the trends and analysis.
(Expert Intelligence) 50+ companies driving innovation in connected car tech
Startups are looking to transform transportation by making cars — and their drivers — smarter, safer, and more efficient. See the market map.
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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
SenseTime raises $600M. The Chinese AI startup's new raise vaults it a $3B+ valuation (the most of any private artificial intelligence company). SenseTime is working with Honda on autonomous driving systems, amid a host of other projects.
Bloomberg
Lytx gets new investors. The video telematics company has raised over $700M in capital, with Clearlake Capital and several other investors joining existing backer GTCR.
PR Newswire
SoCar raises $57M. IMM Private Equity led the round into the South Korean car-sharing service.
CB Insights
DeepScale sees $15M. The perception software developer's Series A was led by Point72 and next47 (Siemens' corporate VC arm).
PR Newswire
Yellow gets $9M. Grishin Robotics and Monashees led the Seed round for the Brazilian dockless bike-sharing service.
FinSMEs
Bike-share acquisitions. Chinese e-commerce giant Meituan acquired bike-share provider Mobike, while Uber acquired existing partner Jump Bikes.
Financial Times (Mobike) / NY Times (Jump)
News
Uber deal invites scrutiny. The potential Uber Southeast Asian unit sale to rival Grab is facing anti-competition investigations in Singapore, Phillippines, and Malaysia.
Reuters
Didi launches food delivery. The new Didi service is running a pilot service in Wuxi, where the company claims to have captured one-third of the market.
TechCrunch
Lyft expands subscription pilot. The company's subscription services are now being tested in 30 markets.
Bloomberg
Postmates, DoorDash discuss merger. The delivery companies are weighing options to battle GrubHub, Uber, and Amazon in the crowded space, although leadership of a combined entity remains a major sticking point.
Recode
NTSB rebukes Tesla. Following last month's fatal Autopilot crash, Tesla preemptively disclosed information before the National Transportation Safety Board could finish its investigation.
Bloomberg
California driverless. New California DMV regulations on the testing of driverless cars took effect, with one unnamed firm having applied for a fully driverless permit so far.
Washington Post
Sidewalk Labs targets planning. Shortly after launching Coord, the Alphabet unit has unveiled Replica, a city planning tool offering detailed transportation usage data to improve multimodal planning.
Sidewalk Talk
Articles, Perspectives, & Studies
Waze vs hills. Steve Lopez of the LA Times highlights LA streets where navigation apps fail to account for topography.
LA Times
Waymo's CEO. Bloomberg profiles John Krafcik and highlights the possible logistics focus of a pending deal with Honda. (Related: Honda seeks to cultivate new Silicon Valley partners through its Xcelerator incubator project.)
Bloomberg (Waymo) / Automotive News (Honda)
The wake of Didi-Uber. A peek through the window of post-consolidation ride-hailing in China: drivers and riders lament higher costs and lower subsidies under Didi's near-monopoly.
Today Online
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New sheetmetal / New tech
From the Czech Republic comes a retro-styled, lightweight electric vehicle called the Luka:
Creator MW Motors (not to be confused with Chinese EV startup WM Motors) claims the affordable Luka is not a concept and will be a production vehicle.
Autoblog
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