07 Jun Automobility EXCELerate Pipeline – Edition #43

We are very pleased to share the 43rd Edition of Automobility’s EXCELerate pipeline. As always, we are continually scanning the global mobility technology landscape to curate excellent investment opportunities that we believe offer differentiated solutions which fit our “Internet of Mobility” (IoM) and Energy Transition theses.

You can also browse through our latest Automobility Tech Deals [2Q2023]bulletin which features 8 active deals from our EXCELerate pipeline. Please reach out to us at [email protected] for further information on any listed startup to learn more about these or other investment opportunities we are curating.

Recent Pipeline News and Media Mentions

We are pleased to share the significant progress being made by several of our EXCELerate portfolio companies since our last update.

In particular, we are proud to partner with Inspekto, one of our EXCELerate portfolio companies, for commercializing its AI machine vision solution in the automotive market. Bill Russo, Founder & CEO of Automobility Limited, shares that “The industrial client has successfully tested the Inspekto solution for chassis component inspections both in Europe and China.  We believe Inspekto’s AI technology is highly relevant and that the startup is on a path to rapidly scale this solution across a wide range of use cases in an industry 4.0 environment.”

This and other recent news highlighting the milestones achieved by companies in our EXCELerate pipeline:

• Automobility Helps Inspekto Deploy AI Machine Vision Solution with Large Industrial Client
• Ethernovia Raises $64M Series A Round to Accelerate Vehicle Networks Innovation
• WattEV Opens Largest Public Electric Charging Plaza in Southern California
• Anovion Technologies To Build $800M Synthetic Graphite Anode Materials Plant
• Arbe and Weifu 4D Imaging Radar to Power DiDi’s KargoBot
• Sonatus’ Jeff Chou on Software-Defined Vehicles Trends
• B–ON and EO Charging Partner to Boost Fleet Electrification in Europe

It has been a very busy media month for Automobility, and we are playing a very active role of keeping everyone informed of the developments in the global race to the Future of Mobility.  Since our last update, we contributed to numerous events, articles and media stories:

• Auto|Mobility Investment Pulse Check – Issue #63
• State of China’s Auto Market – April 2023
• State of China’s Auto Market – May 2023
• What Shanghai Auto Show Means for Us
• Seven Key Takeaways from the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show
• China’s EV giant BYD is picking up speed in Jordan [Rest of World]

  (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://restofworld.org/2023/byd-china-ev-expands-middle-east/ )

• Europe is an ‘open lane’ for low-priced Chinese EVs, Faurecia CEO says [Automotive News] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://europe.autonews.com/shanghai-auto-show/byd-other-chinese-automakers-see-ev-opening-europe)
• Too big to fail? Vingroup faces headwinds at home and abroad [SE Asia Globe] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://southeastasiaglobe.com/vingroup-too-big-to-fail/)
• European carmakers play catch-up in China with record investment [Financial Times] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.ft.com/content/aa3472f2-c8d5-4a80-8a24-5b6b7c2fd7bc)
• Can Volkswagen win back China? [Financial Times] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.ft.com/content/afad4566-6404-483e-934f-c905507bf1d0)
• China’s battery king faces scrutiny over EV market dominance[Financial Times] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.ft.com/content/9f411244-eb72-493f-86d2-e7bf77de757e)
• China’s car market has become a Darwinian battleground [Financial Times] (Copy and paste the link to your browser:https://www.ft.com/content/71518a60-da74-4ec0-a659-543b121353a0?accessToken=zwAAAYhVz9p1kc9xUYpg2nROwNOmWVQ7EhNToA.MEQCIB8CcIOm0Yd4tMyj8B3w70YXQZO6kpcjKfTse_oCQ4XFAiB4sLFqEcVuwZmKenbVHGXbjAYm9isxbc1Baqebxj21iw&segmentId=e95a9ae7-622c-6235-5f87-51e412b47e97&shareType=enterprise)
• Bill Russo Interview on BBC World Business Report [AUDIO]
• How BYD is Winning the Race to Affordable EVs [CNBC VIDEO]
• Seagull aims to crack market for affordable EVs [Reuters VIDEO]
• BYD’s Seagull attracts crowds at Auto Shanghai [CGTN VIDEO]
• Smart EVs and Chinese consumer preferences [CGTN Video]
• An Interview with Bill Russo [VIDEO]
• Say goodbye to the US car market as we know it: Cheap Chinese EVs are coming [Business Insider] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www-businessinsider-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.businessinsider.com/cheap-chinese-electric-cars-will-upend-the-us-vehicle-market-2023-5?amp)
• China doesn’t want American cars anymore — that’s bad news for Ford and GM [Business Insider] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-auto-sales-automakers-ford-gm-making-losing-market-share-2023-4)
• The EV revolution has never felt farther away [Business Insider] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-vehicle-revolution-hits-delays-production-sales-tesla-china-2023-4)
• Auto Shanghai: China carmakers show new tech and amp up for global EV market [CGTN] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-04-20/China-carmakers-amp-up-for-global-EV-market-at-Shanghai-auto-show-1ja6GJjrgDm/index.html)
• China’s Car Buyers Have Fallen Out of Love With Foreign Brands [NY Times] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/business/china-shanghai-auto-show.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare )
• In China’s EV market, foreign automakers race to catch up [Nikkei Asia] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/In-China-s-EV-market-foreign-automakers-race-to-catch-up )
• China’s Rapid Shift to EVs Hurting Japanese Carmakers [Reuters] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.asiafinancial.com/chinas-rapid-shift-to-evs-hurting-japanese-carmakers )
• Japan’s Automakers Have a Made-In-China Sales Crisis [Reuters] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2023-05-02/analysis-japans-automakers-have-a-made-in-china-sales-crisis )
• Shanghai auto show crowds flock to BYD’s Seagull [Reuters] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/shanghai-auto-show-crowds-flock-byds-seagull-2023-04-19/ )
• Once-dominant foreign auto brands pledge comeback in China [Reuters] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/once-dominant-foreign-auto-brands-pledge-comeback-china-2023-04-18/ )
• China’s electric car drive, led by BYD, leaves global brands behind [Reuters] (Copy and paste the link to your browser: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-electric-car-drive-led-by-byd-leaves-global-brands-behind-2023-04-17/)

Featured in EXCELerate Pipeline 43

The 43rd edition features 42 companies on our EXCELerate “Menu”, of which 9 are part of our Energy Transition portfolio. These companies have met our evaluation criteria which ranks each startup across a range of metrics. The charts below show the regional and IoM stack coverage of these startups.

NOTE:  Project Codenames are used for startups on the EXCELerate menu of qualified opportunities. More detailed information on each company can be found in our EXCELerate Dealbook, which can be obtained by emailing us at [email protected]

1 startup has been added to our “long list” of startups of interest since our last update:

• SPOT is a US-based solution for parking and location-based commerce

We would be happy to arrange an introduction to any of the companies in our pipeline.