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| Hey Insiders — Today, we're bringing you the latest on ChargePoint's earnings, plus Gatik's autonomous truck delivery partnership. Scroll down for this week's transportation startup funding rounds. Let us know which areas you would like us to cover next. If you find this newsletter helpful, please share it with a friend or colleague. Thanks for reading! Nicolas
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| 1 | | Southwest Airlines revised its outlook for Q3 from the previous projection of a 3% drop in revenue to an estimated 5% to 7%. "While August 2023 close-in leisure bookings were on the lower end of the company's expectations, modestly impacted by seasonal trends, overall leisure demand and yields continue to remain healthy," stated the airline in an SEC filing. More: - The airline is expecting fuel costs to rise to a range between $2.70 and $2.80 per gallon from the previously expected prices of $2.55 to $2.65.
- Southwest, however, did not revise its capacity expectation, which it projects to reach a 12% YoY increase.
- The airline reported $1.4B in fuel expenses in Q2, down from $1.63B during the same period in 2022.
Zoom Out: - United Airlines revised its adjusted pre-tax margin from a range between 14% and 16% to 10% and 12% for Q3.
- Southwest stock closed down 2.6% for the day and -5.46 WoW on Wednesday.
Q: Would a rise in airfare change your travel plans? Join the conversation here. |     | |
| 2 | | EV charging network ChargePoint reported $150.5M in total revenue for the three months preceding July 31, up from $108.3M during the same period in 2022. ChargePoint, however, widened its net loss from $92.7M during the period in 2022 to a net loss of $125.25M. More: - The company generated $30M from subscriptions, up from $20.2M for the category for the three months preceding the end of July 2022.
- ChargePoint spent ~$39.7M in sales and marketing, $25M in administrative expenses, and $59.6M in R&D.
- The EV charging company had $233.49M at the end of the quarter, down from $264.16M at the end of January.
- $CHPT closed down 2.75% and then dropped by 8.64% after-hours following the reporting of its earnings.
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| 3 | | Gatik is set to begin carrying products from Tyson Foods via autonomous box trucks in Northwest Arkansas. The autonomous vehicle company previously delivered products from a small warehouse to a Walmart store using autonomous trucks in Bentonville as part of its agreement with the retailer. More: - Gatik's project with Walmart, which began in 2021, ended with the closing of the warehouse being used in the program. New details about future projects with the retailer have not been disclosed.
- The AV company has also been operating an autonomous route with Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws. In March, Gatik signed an agreement with Kroger for self-driving deliveries in Dallas.
- Gatik claims more than 500,000 deliveries with and without human safety drivers.
- Tyson Foods has the country's eighth-largest fleet, with 1,300 trucks and 4,500 mostly refrigerated trailers.
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| 4 | | Portland-based RideWithGPS, a developer of route planning tools for bicyclists, announced it raised $3M from an undisclosed investor. This marks the company's first outside investment. More: - RideWithGPS works on a mobile and web app to track, map, and analyze bike rides. The app also has a social component.
- The company claims to have been cashflow positive since its inception in 2006.
- RideWithGPS shares a sector with exercise app Strava, which raised a $110M Series F in 2020, and AllTrails, which raised $150M from private equity firm Permira in 2021.
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| 5 | | Railroad company Norfolk Southern is investing $8M into a joint venture with online marketplace DrayNow to develop technology for intermodal to improve customer and driver experience. The companies plan to leverage DrayNow's existing app and its real-time information for first- and last-mile. More: - "We are taking a comprehensive look at the supply chain with an emphasis on areas where we can modernize our processes and extend our reach even further beyond the track," said Norfolk Southern's chief strategy officer, Mike McClellan, who will join DrayNow's board of directors.
- DrayNow's clients include small-fleet businesses aiming to connect with brokers.
- The startup last raised a $2M Series A extension by Osage Venture Partners in October 2020.
- Norfolk Southern's last external investment involved a venture round in Azoon, a San Mateo-based logistics resource management platform, in May 2000.
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| 6 | | Cafler, a Barcelona-based startup developing a mobile app for car users, raised a €8M ($8.58M) Seed round led by Seaya Ventures. The company claims more than 100,000 users across three countries and 1,000 ecosystem partners. More: - Cafler works on on-demand services to the user's home, including car washes, maintenance, insurance via partners, and buying or selling cars, among others.
- "We have created a solid data lake and incorporated artificial intelligence and machine learning tools, which allows us to offer a more proactive experience to our users, for example, predictive maintenance, personalized cross-selling suggestions, and visualization of relevant information at all times," said the company's founder Ricard Guillem.
- The startup claims Tesla, Turo, Michelin, Hertz, and Sixt among the brands it works with.
- Cafler has completed 150,000 services since its inception in 2021.
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- Tesla produced its 2 millionth electric vehicle within 13 months at Giga Shanghai.
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- Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary criticized the initial report on the U.K.'s traffic control failure that canceled 1,500 flights last week.
- Chinese auto supplier GTA Superconductor raised $1.8B, mostly through state-backed financing.
- German electric converter Pepper Motion plans to source hydrogen fuel cells from Toyota for commercial vehicles.
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INSIDE TRANSPORTATION LEADERBOARD (ALL-TIME) |
 | Sr. Analyst | | Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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