My favorite thing about mobility tech is that it can mean all sorts of things, from EVs to scooters to underwater drones.
But autonomous driving ruled the day in mobility tech in Q2 2024, in which some big-name deals got done by big-name investors. Nvidia particularly has been involved in a number of high-profile, autonomous driving-related deals. Consider: In recent months, Wayve raised a $1.1 billion Series C led by Nvidia, Eclipse Ventures, and SoftBank, while Scale AI raised a $1 billion Series F led by Accel and Nvidia. Nvidia was also in the mix as an investor in Waabi’s $200 million Series B, which was led by Uber and Khosla Ventures.
Q2 saw some green shoots for mobility tech as a sector, as VCs invested $6.7 billion in mobility tech, marking a 13.9% quarter-over-quarter increase in deal value, according to PitchBook. This also marked deal value growth of 52.8% year over year—though the spike in deal value hinges in part on those large autonomous driving-focused funding rounds.
In fact, mobility tech deal count in Q2 was down 27.4% year over year and about 30% year-to-date. To me what that suggests is the same story as we’ve ultimately heard in other sectors—that the biggest names are drawing lots of funding, while smaller or less-well-known startups are more likely to be left in the lurch.
Autonomous driving has been hot this summer, as Alphabet-owned Waymo lifted the waiting list in San Francisco and became available to everyone. Meanwhile, Amazon-owned Zoox is similarly preparing to roll out to customers, my colleague Jessica Mathews recently reported. But as autonomous driving gains real-world traction, scrutiny on (and concerns about) robotaxi companies has ramped up. GM-owned Cruise has particularly become a story about how quickly an autonomous driving startup can endanger pedestrians, as Mathews has previously reported.
Now, I’ll level with you: All these autonomous driving-related rounds are all fine and good, but I’m stuck on the underwater drones. According to PitchBook, that market is expected to reach $15 billion by 2032, up from $4.4 billion last year. That figure includes military applications, but it turns out that on its own marine data is already a roughly $1.3 billion market, projected to grow. If there are any marine data-gatherers out there, you know where to find me.
Scoop… My colleague Leo Schwartz scooped the news on crypto-focused Hack VC’s new $77 million fund. Read the whole story here.
Toon time… Here’s this month’s cartoon, by Ian Foley.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: [email protected]
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Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Second Front Systems, a Wilmington, Del.-based software company for government agencies, raised $70 million in Series C funding. Salesforce Ventures led the round and was joined by Battery Ventures and existing investors NEA, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Artis Ventures.
- AceUp, a Boston, Mass.-based AI coaching engine, raised $22.5 million in Series A funding. Point Judith Capital led the round and was joined by Water Bear Ventures, Techstars, and others.
- EasyDMARC, a Yerevan, Armenia-based email security company, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Radian Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors.
- c/side, a San Francisco, Calif.-based browser-focused cybersecurity platform, raised $6 million in seed funding. Uncork Capital led the round and was joined by Mantis VC, Scribble Ventures, Roar Ventures, PrimeSet, and others.
- PinPoint Analytics, a Manalapan, N.J.-based AI platform for the road construction industry’s bidding and estimating process, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. HG Ventures led the round and was joined by Compose VC.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- 65 Equity Partners acquired a minority stake in Kendra Scott, an Austin, Texas-based lifestyle and accessories brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Impetus Wellness Group acquired Reliance Vitamin, an Edison, N.J.-based dietary supplement manufacturer, from Swander Pace Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Endicott and New Mountain Capital acquired a majority stake in Datassential, a Chicago, Ill.-based food and beverage intelligence platform, from Spectrum Equity. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OTHER
- Chipp acquired AllGPTs.co, an Istanbul, Turkey-based custom AI applications directory. Financial terms were not disclosed.
PEOPLE
- Rede Partners, a London, England-based private equity firm, promoted James Varela and Charles Wan to partner and hired Adele Gilmore and Ben Plant as principals. Previously, Gilmore was at Aviditi Advisors and Plant was at Lazard.
