🚀CES 2024 Recap

Jan 18, 2024

Welcome to the Paddock, your VIP access to unique insights from some of the best mobility founders out there and curated news and trends reshaping the mobility sector globally.

—Rodolfo, Enrique, Cecy, and Bernardo.

💡If you know of any startup that is also committed to #reshapingmobility by being more efficient, safer, and environmentally friendly reach us here.

🏁Come visit The Paddock to see the full portfolio of P.V. companies.

Portfolio news

⚡️ Congratulations to Kigo-Parkimovil on successfully closing a project involving the management of seven public parking spaces in collaboration with the San Pedro Garza Garcia government, a municipality in our hometown. Kigo's application will serve as the primary operator, providing enhanced safety features and real-time availability information to the parking core of San Pedro.

⚡️ We invite you to join us in listening to Enrique, our Managing Partner, as he engages in an insightful interview. Gain valuable insights into our fund's identity and Enrique's perspectives on the future of mobility. Also, a great opportunity to practice your spanish.

⚡️ Kudos to the DriveU.auto team for their partnership with Vayu Robotics. DriveU's platform will be utilized for monitoring and tele-assistance in the management of its fleet of autonomous delivery robots.

⚡️Xos and ElectraMeccanica Announce Proposed Combination to Accelerate Xos’ Leadership Position in Manufacturing Commercial Electric Vehicles for Major U.S. Fleet Customers.

⚡️Lanterne's AI toolset is now integrated into Joyride's mobility platform, giving shared mobility fleet managers a unique and simplified way to collect and interpret data – and then execute activities all from one operating system.

Interesting Reads

🔍 CES highlights

The 2024 CES was a colossal event with over 135,000 attendees and more than 4,300 exhibitors, immersing everyone in a world of technology, innovation, and creativity. We had a great time exploring the VR and gaming sector, playing with all the cool toys. However, in our opinion, the real Star Wars-like technology experience happened at the West Hall—the automotive hub.

Despite it being our second time at the event, regular attendees mentioned that CES has increasingly transformed more and more into an automotive-centric showcase. Recognizable automakers, OEMs, and TIER-1 companies exhibited their most cutting-edge hardware, solidifying CES as a must-attend for automotive players.

Here are some of our takeaways from the event:

1.- All EV's

We're still riding the wave of the electric revolution, and it's not limited to regular cars. Even off-the-road and heavy equipment machines are joining the electric bandwagon. For instance, Hyundai's AI-powered Concept X excavator and the all-electric Bobcat T7X compact track loader are the Star Wars-like vehicles we mentioned earlier.

2.- Vehicles Designs and Use

We're blown away by the evolution of vehicle designs over the years. Nowadays, it's all about a no-one-size-fits-all approach, whether it's a passenger car or a commercial vehicle. Take, for instance, the awesome new Kia Concept PV5—an easy-to-swap van with modular options to extend or shorten your vehicle length. And let's not forget about the new Honda Mini-Van, which is also known as the "space-hub." Why? Well, not so much because it looks like a typical car, but more because it resembles a comfy and practical space on wheels.

3.- International Awareness

While this might not be entirely mobility-related, we were genuinely impressed by the diverse representation of nationalities at the event, especially within the Venetian Hall. Massive delegations from countries like France, the Netherlands, and, of course, Korea, hosted three of the most crowded booths we encountered, featuring numerous startups presenting their technology. Undoubtedly, these regions will be the ones to watch in 2024.

Some deals we found interesting

🚀 Agtonomy, a San Francisco startup that retrofits tractors with software and control systems to allow them to be operated remotely, raised a $22.5 million Series A round. Momenta was the deal lead, with Doosan Bobcat North America and Toyota Ventures also chipping in. (19.Dec.2023)

🚀 Bumper, a London-based provider of buy now, pay later payment options for car repairs, secured a $48 million Series B led by Autotech Ventures. (09.Jan.2024)

🚀Carmoola, a two-year-old London startup that provides car financing via an app, raised a $19.6 million Series B round. Investors included QED Investors, VentureFriends, InMotion Ventures, AlleyCorp, and u.ventures. (16.Jan.2024)

🚀 CorrActions, an Israeli AI-based driver safety startup, has raised $7.25 million in its Series A round. The funding round was led by Volvo Cars Tech Fund, which was joined by BlackBerry, alongside prominent venture capital firms Next Gear Ventures, Mobilitech Capital, Regah Ventures, OurCrowd, NextLeap Ventures, and Stone Ventures. (12.Dec.2023)

🚀Digital Infrastructure Inc, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based platform where drivers can share vehicle data and earn rewards, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. CoinFund led the round and was joined by Slow Ventures, Consensys Mesh, and others. (17.Jan.2024)

🚀 Evum Motors, a Munich-based designer and manufacturer of electric utility vehicles raised €20 million in funding led by Jolt Capital. EVUM Motors intends to use the investment to offer robust electric vehicles with smart energy solutions, grow production capacities, and expand the sales and service geographic footprint in Germany and Europe. (20.Dec.2023)

🚀 Finn, a Munich startup that offers consumers a subscription service as an alternative to buying or leasing a new car, raised a $109.5 million Series C round at a $659 million post-money valuation. Planet First Partners was the deal lead, while previous investors HV Capital, Korelya Capital, UVC Partners, White Star Capital, and Picus Capital also took part. (11.Jan.2024)

🚀 HAAS Alert, which delivers road safety information and hazard warnings via in-vehicle electronic notifications, raised $15 million from Boston growth-equity firm Volition Capital. (08.Jan.2024)

🚀 Louélec, a Montreal-based electric carsharing fleet management, is receiving $3 million in funding from Desjardins to support its growth. The money will allow the company to roll out its plan to acquire 400 new electric vehicles so it can provide innovative solutions to facilitate access, management and maintenance of business vehicle fleets. (11.Dec.2023)

🚀 Recurrent, a Seattle-based platform providing shoppers and car dealerships with information about used electric vehicle batteries, raised $16 million in a Series A round. ArcTern Ventures led the new funding round. Other investors included Automotive Ventures, Goodyear Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Pioneer Square Labs and others. (08.Jan.2024)

🚀 Tembici, a Brazilian micro-mobility platform focused on bikes with operations in Chile, Argentina and Colombia, raised $23 million from the DFC and IDB Invest. (04.Dec.2023)

🚀 Terminal, a Toronto-based trucking telematics integrations startup, has closed a $3.1 million USD seed round led by Golden Ventures, and featured participation from Y Combinator, Wayfinder Ventures, Northside Ventures, McVestCo VC and a group of angel investors that included Loop co-founder and CEO Matt McKinney. (13.Dec.2023)

🚀Trojan Energy, a seven-year-old startup based in Aberdeen, Scotland, that provides on-street EV charging, raised a $32.9 million round. BGF and previous investor Scottish National Investment Bank were the deal leads. (16.Jan.2024)

🚀 Velco, a French provider of connected solutions for electric bike brands, has completed a fundraising round to the tune of €2M ($2.2M USD). The company will continue to focus on product and service innovation and looks to expand into European and North American markets. (19.Dec.2023)

A piece of good news

🌎 A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), HES-SO Geneva and EPFL has discovered that practicing and listening to music can alter cognitive decline in healthy seniors by stimulating the production of grey matter.

To achieve these results, the researchers followed over 100 retired people who had never practiced music before. They were enrolled in piano and music awareness training for six months. These results revealed that music practice and active listening could prevent working memory decline. Such activities promoted brain plasticity, and they were associated with grey matter volume increase. Positive impacts have also been measured on working memory.

The scientists also found that the quality of sleep, the number of lessons followed throughout the intervention, and the daily training quantity had a positive impact on the degree of improvement in performance. So now you know, let's keep on rocking 🤟