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TechCrunch Mobility: An acquisition that may not be unfriendly

TechCrunch Mobility: An acquisition that may not be unfriendly

Bitget-RWA2025/10/19 17:27
By:Bitget-RWA

Welcome once again to TechCrunch Mobility — your go-to source for updates and analysis on the evolving world of transportation. Looking for another reason to subscribe? The email edition of this newsletter features interactive polls, including this week’s question about the most effective business model for autonomous vehicle tech. Have thoughts?

Now, let’s dive in. There’s a new development for lidar maker Luminar, and yes, it involves some boardroom drama. 

Let’s recap. You may remember that Austin Russell, Luminar’s billionaire founder and CEO, was essentially ousted by the board after an ethics review. But Russell didn’t just fade away. 

A few weeks ago, he reemerged with a new venture, Russell AI Labs. And now — cue the suspenseful music — he’s put forward an offer to buy Luminar. 

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane first reported this story, which you can read here . Since then, he’s uncovered additional information not included in the SEC documents. 

At first glance, this might seem like a hostile takeover — after all, the proposal was revealed in Russell’s own filing, and Luminar hasn’t commented. However, a source tells us that some board members actually approached Russell about the idea last month. (We’re told they even “encouraged” it.)

This suggests that certain members of Luminar’s nine-person board are interested in his return, even though three board members on the audit committee led the ethics investigation that resulted in his departure just months ago.

The acquisition plan outlined in the filing is short on specifics, but could involve Russell AI Labs purchasing another automotive tech firm and merging it with Luminar. We’ve heard that Russell is already considering several targets as part of the research he’s done with Russell AI Labs, which he sees as a kind of incubator.

Deals!

TechCrunch Mobility: An acquisition that may not be unfriendly image 0 Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

This week, two significant transactions took place in the electric aviation industry. 

First, Beta Technologies leveraged relaxed SEC regulations during the U.S. government shutdown to set its IPO share price. Shares are being offered between $27 and $33, aiming to raise up to $825 million. If Beta hits the upper end, its valuation will be around $7.2 billion at launch.

Earlier this month, the SEC issued new guidance allowing companies in IPO limbo to have their statements, including share pricing, automatically become effective after 20 days without staff review. Other firms, such as Navan , have also moved forward with IPOs under this rule.

Then there’s Lilium, which was part of a very different transaction. Although the electric aircraft startup shut down a year ago, its technology has found a new home at Archer Aviation

Archer emerged victorious in a competitive auction — which also included Ambitious Air Mobility Group and Joby Aviation — acquiring all 300 of Lilium’s patents . The purchase price was €18 million ($21 million), a striking contrast to the more than $1 billion Lilium raised over its existence. 

So what will Archer do with these patents? The company hasn’t spelled it out, but there are some clues, which I discuss in my article. 

Other deals that stood out to me this week …

Airbound, a drone company from India founded in 2020, secured $8.65 million in seed funding led by Physical Intelligence co-founder Lachy Groom. Humba Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners (an existing investor), and senior executives from Tesla, SpaceX, and Anduril also participated.

Dexory, a London-based warehouse robotics company, raised $165 million in a mix of equity and debt. The $100 million Series C was led by Eurazeo, with support from LTS Growth, Endeavor Catalyst, DTCP, Atomico, Lakestar, Elaia, Latitude Ventures, and Wave-X. Dexory also obtained $65 million in debt from Bootstrap Europe.

FleetWorks, a logistics startup building a 24/7 AI dispatcher, brought in $17 million in equity and debt, including a $15 million Series A led by Bill Trenchard of First Round Capital. Y Combinator, Saga Ventures, and LFX Venture Partners also joined the Series A.

Pony.ai and WeRide have received a crucial green light from Chinese securities authorities, allowing these autonomous vehicle tech firms to pursue secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Both are already listed on the Nasdaq in the U.S.

Starship Technologies, which specializes in autonomous sidewalk deliveries, raised $50 million in a Series C led by Plural. Other investors included Karma.vc , Latitude, Coefficient Capital, SmartCap, and Skaala.

Upciti, a smart city software provider based in Paris, secured $20 million in Series A funding led by Notion Capital, with Point Nine and Chalfen Ventures also investing.

Zepto, an Indian grocery delivery service, raised $450 million in funding ahead of a planned public offering, according to Bloomberg.

Notable reads and other tidbits

TechCrunch Mobility: An acquisition that may not be unfriendly image 1 Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its findings on OceanGate, the incident that resulted in five fatalities during a trip to see the Titanic wreck. The NTSB’s report concluded that the Titan submersible failed to meet required manufacturing safety standards.

Stellantis and Chinese autonomous driving company Pony.ai have partnered to develop robotaxis for the European market, though the agreement is nonbinding. The goal is to integrate Pony’s autonomous driving system into Stellantis’ electric mid-size van platform.

While Stellantis is investing in self-driving technology, it’s scaling back on electrification. The automaker announced a $13 billion investment to expand its U.S. manufacturing over the next four years. (Labor unions in Canada have not responded positively to this plan.) The investment will fund the development and production of five new vehicles in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana by 2029. Only one of these will be electric, a notable shift from Stellantis’ previous strategy. 

Uber is now offering a new type of gig work: digital tasks such as uploading images to help train AI systems.

Waymo is preparing to launch in London . The company announced plans to introduce a commercial robotaxi service in London by 2026, marking its second international expansion after Tokyo.

As usual, there’s more than one update from Waymo. The company has entered a long-term strategic partnership with DoorDash to deliver goods to customers in Phoenix using autonomous vehicles. Waymo hasn’t focused on delivery for some time — could this signal a new direction? I think so. 

One more thing …

On the topic of Waymo and delivery, it made me reflect on the most promising business models. It’s been a while since our last poll, so if you’re subscribed to the newsletter, I hope you’ll take part. I’ll share the poll results next week.

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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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