Chicken Delivery Robots are here
The future is sleek e-bikes and chicken delivery via robot, but a skeptical media won’t help make the case for micromobility.
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Have you heard? Curbivore is coming to Los Angeles on January 28, with Uber Eats as a presenting sponsor and many more great companies/speakers! The pandemic has caused a surge in demand for curb space and now cities are left wondering how to equitably dole out space to everything from outdoor dining and last mile delivery to ridehail, micromobility and deliver robots. Get $100 off your ticket with the promo code ‘FriendofMovements’.
Micromobility
Chicken delivery robot spotted in Grand Rapids. | Dmitry Shevelenko/Tortoise
E-bikes make an appearance on Saturday Night Live. E-bikes + protected bike lanes = an unstoppable combination. | David Zipper
The passage of portions of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act spells good news for micromobility and transit, but it’s not always framed that way by the media - which does not help champions of micromobility. | Charlie Warzel
How can micromobility advocates get ahead of privacy concerns? Establishing a shared set of privacy principles early. | GovTech
An example of governments (in the European Union) working together to develop micromobility tech and innovation. | Silicon Republic
Consolidation begins for e-bike operators: Berlin-based Tier Mobility, one of the largest e-scooter operators in Europe, has just acquired German bike-sharing platform Nextbike. Tier’s competitors, like Lime, have been pursuing their own acquisitions over the last year, and this could herald further consolidation in the future. | Intelligent Transport
Ridehailing & Last Mile Delivery
Sunil Paul (founder of Sidecar) is back and his new company Spring Free EV has partnered with HyreCar. This model is interesting because Spring helps fleet owners with the financing to purchase EVs. | BusinessWire
Gas prices are surging around the country, and rideshare drivers are fed up. Uber has partnered with the gas cash back app GetUpside to connect drivers to cheaper gas. Another pro? Uber’s also helping connect drivers to public restrooms. Apparently, this is a big concern for drivers. | The Rideshare Guy
Gett, a ride hailing startup out of Israel, announced it is merging with Rosecliff Acquisition I, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to go public. | NoCamels
DoorDash is pretty careful to emphasize how its DoorDash Labs division wants to “augment human networks” and “see a world where Dashers could deliver more efficiently” but needless to say - DoorDash is expanding its robotics arm. | DoorDash
Investments and Deals
Zoomo, an Australian startup that builds e-bikes and offers micromobility subscriptions to gig workers and couriers, announced a $60 million Series B fundraise. | Forbes
Interview with Santosh Sankar of Dynamo Ventures, which invests in enterprise, seed stage startups in supply chain and mobility. He shares his thoughts on why Dynamo became more successful (hint: transparency!) | Emerging Manager h/t Reilly Brennan
Scooter-sharing company Bird released its third-quarter earnings, the first since it became a public company. While revenues slightly missed expectations, an expanded global footprint and the return of tourism look promising. | Yahoo Finance
BrightDrop, General Motors’ first-to-last-mile business arm, has just gained its next customer for its electric delivery vans: fleet management company Merchants Fleet. Prior to Merchants Fleet, GM lined up two customers for its vans: FedEx and Verizon. | Freight Waves
Ample, a startup developing battery swapping tech for electric vehicles, has raised another $30 million from The Blackstone Group and Banco Santander. Ample is on its way or may already be at unicorn status (valued at $1 billion). | TechCrunch
Cities & Policy
Hopefully UBM (universal basic mobility) is more successful than its counterpart, UBI (universal basic income) - some cities in California are making an investment in UBM to spark economic growth, particularly among youth and young adults ages 16-24. | Bloomberg City Lab
If the Mayor of LA took transit to LA City Hall. | Kenny Uong
New Products, Features and Data Points
Are we in a scooter renaissance? With BMW’s Motorrad division and its latest electric scooter, the CE 04, BMW could be taking scooters beyond “just” cool-looking bikes. | TechCrunch
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Interesting to see cities experimenting with UBM. Out of curiosity, do you have a stance on the "free transit" vs. "improved quality" debate RE: which should we focus on more in terms of helping low-income riders?