Su$tainable Mobility: The Founder Resource Guide
Vol 51
This bi-weekly newsletter aims to separate the signal from the noise for making money in sustainable transportation: Electrification, mode shift, active and public transit, and mobility aggregation, across both people and goods movement.
This week’s Deep Dive is focused on the resources that every founder in sustainable mobility should be aware of. If you know a sustainable mobility founder who could use it, please forward this email to them.
If you think “outside the box” on carbon and climate, this newsletter is for you. Carbon Creed is a weekly synopsis of the books, people and policies shaping our climate future. Sign up here to try the Carbon Creed free weekly newsletter.
🌱STARTUP WATCH: Sustainable mobility startups (generally pre-seed or seed) to keep an eye on
Anadue (Ireland): Fleet management software for micromobility
AutoNxt Automation (India): Electric, autonomous farm equipment
Canopy (California, USA): Employee management software for climate benefits
Electro Base (Australia): ElectricFish-like solution from Australia
EVE (Ireland): Fleet electrification software
Hypr (California, USA): Battery swap EV chargers for multifamily and parking facilities
Intrinsic Power (California, USA): Smart residential EV chargers + software
Nelson (France): Corporate software for car fleet electrification
Gage Zero (Texas, USA): Software for commercial fleet electrification
Switch Maritime (Connecticut, USA): Manufacturer of zero emissions ferries (electric and hydrogen)
Weel (Washington, USA): Manufacturer of autonomous bikes
💰FUNDING: Capital raises from startups previously featured in Startup Watch
Revolv (Vol 32) raised a $15M Series A from Greenbacker Group
Deftpower (Vol 37) raised a seed round from Rethink Ventures (amount undisclosed)
Lanterne (Vol 46) raised an $880K seed round from Rockstart and Skalata Ventures
ELOOP (Vol 50) raised a round from The Sharing Group and others (amount undisclosed)
📰QUICK HITS: Notable news from the last two weeks
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a micromobility safety plan. After getting up in arms about battery fires, it’s good to see NYC launch a plan that acknowledges the important role micromobility plays.
New York City may actually move to end free on-street parking. It’s absolutely wild that NYC has given street parking away for free for so long, no matter what George Costanza might say.
In the UK, the new Elizabeth commuter rail line has been a raging success. Nice to see the UK doing something right on transportation!
The European Union finally reached a deal with Germany on the internal combustion engine phase out by 2035, allowing an exception for cars exclusively fueled by e-fuels. Time will tell whether the e-fuel exception is ultimately a moot point or an Achilles Heel.
German state of Baden-Württemberg gives up on the idea of hydrogen trains. Another examples of trains moving towards electric instead.
In Ireland, consultants’ research validated that free public transit would only result in a 1% drop in car travel. Without measures to disincentive car use in cities, its hard to get people on public transit.
US President Biden will grant California a waiver to mandate zero-emissions heavy-duty trucks over time. The decision acknowledges that California (and states that follow its rules, including New York) will progress more quickly towards zero-emissions than the nation at large.
There’s a new bill in the US Congress for a federal e-bike tax rebate. After getting left out of the Inflation Reduction Act, the idea got a massive boost from the results of Denver’s e-bike scheme.
The US federal government opened up $2.5 billion in funding for EV charging, awarded $100 million for smart transportation technologies like curb management and traffic management. The money from the Infrastructure Bill, the Chips Act and the Inflation Reduction Act are just beginning to make their way out the door.
Rivian is in talks with Amazon to end the exclusivity clause in their commercial EV van deal. Such a move would allow Rivian to target other customers.
Ford loses major money on EVs. This is less about difficult EV economics and more about Ford’s disarray. Case in point: Tesla is hugely profitable and legacy carmakers like Stellantis are making record profits in Europe with ~20% plug-in penetration.
Chinese EV maker NIO claims more than 50% of charging sessions are battery swap. Perhaps there’s life yet in the notion of battery swap for passenger cars.
Moody’s upgraded Tesla’s debt to investment grade. Tesla’s financed everything via equity (predicated on an ever-increasing share price), so expect Tesla to start tapping into debt markets, at least when interest rates calm down.
Tesla opened its first remote (aka no people involved) test drive center in Sweden. Tesla already has a distribution cost advantage over the franchise dealer model; its lead will continue to grow with measures like this.
Foxconn may build batteries cells in Wisconsin and packs in Ohio. Foxconn’s Wisconsin factory was a Trump-era fiasco, so finding a real use for the plant would be a huge win.
If your EV battery got scratched, your insurer may opt to junk the car. This is a huge market failure that represents white space for circular-economy entrepreneurs.
TSMC founder says free trade is dead for chips. More on the trade war here.
Via purchased CityMapper. CityMapper needed a hail mary; Via found a nice addition to their arsenal on the cheap.
Bird got yet another capital infusion. A self-sustaining business is still not confirmed.
Elon Musk may be planning his own city in Texas. Elon Musk’s genius in aerospace and EVs is matched by his mediocrity in urban planning.
In Germany, e-bikes account for half of all bike sales. That’s 2.2 million e-bikes sold in Germany last year, far more than the 833k plug-in passenger cars.
In maritime, the EU enacted the world’s first green shipping standards. For now, the focus is on e-fuels.
Northern Ireland may trial a “flying” electric ferry. We’re just on the cusp of the Tesla Roadster moment in maritime.
DEEP DIVE: The Founder Resource List for Sustainable Mobility Startups
Building a business takes a village, even for the solo founder. Given that no founder can do everything, this list is meant to capture frequently used external resources for sustainable mobility founders.
🤲🏽 Incubators and Accelerators
While there are hundreds of generalist incubation programs, a handful of incubators are known for their sector expertise in sustainable mobility. Startups like FreeWire, Remix, SparkCharge, Amogy, Swiftly, Scoot and Ampaire have all been part of the following:
LACI (Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator)
Techstars Turino Smart Cities
💰Slack Communities
Online communities can be a great complement to the deep peer relationships founders make in an incubator. Among the many resources, be sure to check out:
🧲 Venture Capital (VC) Investors
Any number of resources allow founders to sort venture investors, from generalist lists to cleantech-specific lists or VCs open to being cold pitched. The names below are some of the frequent investors in sustainable mobility:
👼🏽 Angel syndicates
In addition to more institutional funds, a number of angel syndicates have a history of supporting founders in sustainable mobility:
E8 Angels (Climate-focused)
4Ward (Climate-focused)
Climate Avengers (Climate-focused)
Seed Checks (Generalist)
Cap Table Coalition (Diverse investors)
Gaingels (LGBTQ founder-focused, but not required)
🏙️ Government Procurement
If your startup involves working with local governments, you need to work every angle you can:
🧑🏽🏫 Major Grant Programs
Investment capital is expensive. A few states excel by providing sustainable mobility founders with non-dilutive capital to help them accelerate growth.
🔬Grant Opportunities
We’re in the midst of an unprecedented wave of funding coming from the federal government thanks to the Infrastructure Bill, the Chips Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act. For help on navigating the grant and philanthropy landscape, check out:
💰Debt
I see founders consistently tap into the debt side of the equation too late. Take a look at this great primer for needing to understand the full capital stack. The names below are all deeply familiar with debt solutions for sustainable mobility startups:
🌎 Impact Assessment
If you’re in cleantech, you’ll need to be ready to quantify your environmental impact, both for investors and potential customers. Over time, a custom life-cycle assessment will likely be done by a 3rd party to validate the product or service. Until then, tap into the following:
If you have other additions you think should be added to the list, drop me an email.
Disclaimer: No founder resource list can ever be fully exhaustive. Inclusion on this list doesn’t imply endorsement; always do your own research. This list is admittedly US-centric. I have affiliations with both LACI and Enduring Planet.
"Free parking" is one obvious issue that demonstrates politicians are motivated to be re-elected more than they are to do some public good. They fear backlash, so they keep on keeping on. 97% of NYC on-street parking is free? Wild.