 Hermeus announced a $100M round to complete the prototype of its aircraft, which is expected to travel at 5x the speed of sound (3,836 miles per hour). The company is aiming to begin its flight testing in 2023. More: - In November, Hermeus held a ground test of the engine of the Quarterhorse aircraft, which the startup claims to be the fastest in the world.
- The round was led by venture capitalist Sam Altman, with participation by Founders Fund and In-Q-Tel. Prior to the new investment, Hermeus had raised $76M, which included grants by NASA and the U.S. Air Force and equity stakes by Khosla Ventures and Canaan Partners.
Zoom Out: - Hyperplane, which is developing aircraft capable of traveling at speeds above Mach 10 (7,672 mph), raised a $29M seed round in February.
- In January, Boom Supersonic announced a three-year strategic partnership with the U.S. Air Force, bringing $60M to develop an aircraft able to travel at a Mach speed of 1.7 (1,304 mph).
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 Autobrains, a company that works on autonomous driving solutions through unsupervised learning, announced it has raised $19M for a Series C of $120M. The startup seeks to roll out its driver-assist product commercially in 2023. More: - Besides its ADAS product, Autobrains is working on autonomy solutions levels 4 and 5, which are expected to cost in the "few thousands of dollars." Production is aimed at 2024.
- Autobrains' Cartex 4M product can detect cars and trucks using 3D detection at 150 meters, motorcycles at 80m, and pedestrians and cyclists through 2D detection at 40m.
- The new round was led by Temasek, with participation from EV maker VinFast, Continental, and BMW, among others.
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BMW revealed on Thursday that its revenue rose 12.4% to approximately $122.4B in 2021, driven by an increase in car, SUV, and motorcycle sales. The automaker reported an estimated $13.7B in net profit, up from ~$4.24B in 2020. More: - BMW delivered 2.5 million vehicles in 2021, 8.4% more than 2020, despite challenges in semiconductor supply.
- 328,000 of BMW's sales consisted of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, up 70% YoY. Motorcycle sales rose 14.8% to approximately 194,000.
- The company spent ~$6.9B on research and development, increasing by 10.7% YoY.
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 Electric vehicle maker XPeng announced it is taking orders for its P5 sedan in four European countries. In August, the automaker began deliveries of its P7 sedan to Norway. More: - XPeng revealed that customers in Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden could order the new vehicle model via app starting Thursday.
- In February, XPeng opened its first store outside China in Stockholm, Sweden. The company revealed it seeks to open a location in the Netherlands.
- The European version of the P5 model will include version 2.5 of the Xpilot advanced driver-assist technology. The EV maker launched version 3.5 in China in October, with automatic lane-change capabilities. XPeng expects the next iteration to be available in China in H1 2023.
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 A message from CHECKR 1 in 3 Americans have criminal records. During this time of historically high unemployment numbers, getting a job with any kind of record is harder than ever before. Fair chance hiring plays a key role in placing people with a difficult past on a path to a better future. One of the ways businesses can implement fairer hiring practices is to use Checkr to run their background checks. Checkr is built on the belief that everyone, regardless of their background, has the right to be fairly assessed for a role they are qualified for. On Wednesday, March 23rd at 10pm EST, Cheri Garcia—Founder of a second chance staffing agency,—joins Checkr to share her wisdom on how to implement unbiased and fairer hiring practices. Attend the webinar How to Get Started in Fair Chance Hiring to learn about: - The benefits of fair chance hiring
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 Moped-scooter company Gogoro revealed the first solid-state lithium ceramic swappable battery prototype for two-wheeled vehicles, developed in conjunction with ProLogium Technology. Gogoro estimates the new battery will increase capacity by 140% or greater, from 1.7 kWh to 2.5 kWh. More: - ProLogium has previously worked with automakers by providing over 8,000 solid-state battery sample cells for testing and module development.
- Gogoro's network has an average of 340,000 daily battery swaps, with upwards of 260 million total battery swaps to date.
- Gogoro holds a 95% market share in the two-wheeled electric vehicle segment in Taiwan, with a presence in mainland China, India, Indonesia, and Israel.
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BMW revealed it has acquired Alpina, which mechanically and cosmetically modifies vehicles, for an undisclosed amount. The automaker announced that Alpina will continue to operate under its current model at its workshop in Buchloe, Germany, with plans for further expansion. More: - The two companies have been working on a number of projects since 1965 and had a cooperation agreement in place that was set to expire in Dec. 2025.
- Alpina produced a total of 2,000 cars in Bavaria in 2021. Its customer base is spread across Europe, Japan, the U.S., and the Middle East.
Zoom Out: - Earlier this month, BMW announced the investment of approximately $200M to build a a 219,000-square-foot press shop at its plant in Greenville, South Carolina.
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- Freight company Yellow Corp. has settled for $6.8M with the Department of Defense over allegedly having incorrectly charged for shipments from 2005 to 2013.
- Lineage Logistics acquired cold-storage facilities operator MTC Logistics.
- EV maker NIO debuted on the Hong Kong stock exchange without raising new capital. NIO competitors XPeng and Li Auto both went public on the exchange in 2021.
- Tesla is reportedly experiencing a 100% increase in orders in some areas of the U.S. as a result of higher gasoline prices.
- BMW is testing the hydrogen-based iX5 in the Arctic.
- Renault's Russia-based manufacturer Avtovaz plans to partially re-open operations at its Togliatti and Izhevsk plants from March 16. Renault makes 8% of its core earnings in Russia.
- Russia has banned car and aircraft exports until the end of 2022.
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 |  | Written and curated by Nicolas Saravia, an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped start-ups. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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