🙌🏽 Su$tainable Mobility, Volume 14
This newsletter aims to separate the signal from the noise for making money in all things sustainable transportation: Electrification, mode shift, active and public transit, and mobility aggregation, across both people and goods movement.
This week, instead of a Deep Dive, we have a founder Q&A with Raven Hernandez of Earth Rides.
Disclaimer: This newsletter represents individual thoughts and not those of any employer. I will always disclose when I have a financial relationship with a company cited.
QUICK HITS: Fast takes on notable news from last week
🙌🏽 The much anticipated Infrastructure bill passed Congress. We did it Joe! Among many items, it includes $7.5 billion to scale the number of EV chargers in America.
🚘 Uber inched closer to profitability. Ride hailing continues its slow recovery.
🤺 VW is clashing with its union over Tesla. Of all legacy car manufacturers, VW seems most determined to catch up to Tesla. That won’t come without a cost in terms of the legacy business.
🚕 NYC taxi drivers ended their hunger strike. A reminder that it’s not just ride hail drivers and truck drivers who feel they get the short end of the stick in the transportation economy.
🤔 Head-scratching details continue to emerge on Hertz’s purchase of 100,00 Teslas. The most salient context, often underreported, is that Hertz is preparing for an IPO under fresh leadership and needs to boost investor interest after a brutal accounting scandal under prior leadership.
💰 Pitchbook launched its Q3 Mobility Report. One of the key theses for Pitchbook is that the centralized assets of some legacy mobility operators will allow them to transition to EVs faster than the decentralized fleets of players like Uber and Lyft.
Bird went public this week, and Rivian is expected to do so next week. Two public listings in a month for So Cal sustainable mobility players - not bad at all.
STARTUP WATCH: Sustainable mobility startups (generally pre-seed or seed) to keep an eye on
🧾 BeMup (Netherlands): Monthly mobility subscription offering prepaid km bundle per month
⛏ Salinity Solutions (UK): Compact desalination technology to sustainably extract lithium from brine
🚲 Tuck Bikes (California, USA): Manufacturer of a folding bike with folding wheels
🚲 WhaTTforNow (France): Emerging premium e-bike manufacturer
FOUNDER Q&A: Raven Hernandez, Earth Rides
Q: What does your company do?
A: Focused on making healthy cool again by providing safe, premium ride-hail in a fleet of all electric vehicles.
Q: What is the problem your company is solving?
A: Earth uses EVs to help reduce tailpipe emissions while also providing a better solution to rideshare.
Q: How do you think about quantifying the sustainability impacts of your company in the mobility sector?
A: Earth is a for-profit company with a nonprofit mission of inspiring others to choose healthier. We do this by focusing on accelerating state and federal goals of EV adoption and by reducing tailpipe emissions by 1,000 tons per year.
Q: What funding stage is your company at and where are you headed next?
A: Recently closed late seed and looking towards 2022 for Series A round.
Q: What business challenge are you most looking forward to addressing in the next year?
A: EV sales make up only 2.5% globally. Earth is working alongside private entities to help speed up the adoption of electric vehicles.
Q: What's the best book you've read in the last year?
A: Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard.
Q: Favorite guilty pleasure?
A: Sleeping in!
Q: What's been the hardest thing you've had to do as a founder?
A: Grow myself, my company while leading/inspiring others to work towards the same goal simultaneously.
Q: What advice would you give other founders in the sector?
A: Hire with intentionality.
