Startups News

Nikola seeks to double shares to keep business going

Financially struggling Nikola Corp. will ask its shareholders in June to double to 1.6 billion the company’s authorized shares. The electric truck and hydrogen maker said it needs to repay hedge fund loans.

The request, Proposal 2, is on the ballot for Nikola’s June 7 shareholder meeting. It is three times larger than the 33% share authorization increase that took four tries to pass in 2022. Current shareholders could ultimately see the value of their already depressed shares cut in half.

“Withou...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-seeks-to-double-shares-to-keep-business-going

Trailer pooling gains more interest in Repowr’s $8M Series A raise

An important rule of trucking is to keep your assets active. 

Now with the help of logistics platforms, like Repowr, if you can’t keep them active, there are marketplaces that will do that for you.

Repowr’s strategy of building an equipment network of trucks and trailers is taking off, and investors are beginning to catch wind of it.

On Wednesday, Repowr announced it had closed an $8 million Series A round led by transportation venture capital firm UP.Partners with participation from industry...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trailer-pooling-gains-more-interest-in-repowrs-8m-series-a-raise

Frayt raises $7M to expand Midwest last-mile services

On-demand delivery platform Frayt announced Tuesday it has closed $7 million in Series A funding led by Refinery Ventures with participation from Capital Midwest, Venture 53 and the JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund to continue executing its objective of not only building a marketplace for shippers to obtain last-mile services but to encourage its driver network’s entrepreneurial spirit. 

“We are looking to empower these independent contractors and truly treat them as owners of their businesses,”...

Startups struggling to make financial ends meet

One is a startup. The other is better described as an early-stage growth company. Choosing lidar maker Ouster Inc. and bus, battery and electric infrastructure provider Proterra Inc. for Securities and Exchange Commission filings scrutiny may be selective. But they represent the ongoing financial difficulties affecting companies trying to advance transportation technology.

Some have already left the stage: XL Fleet was purchased by the Shyft Group. Electric Last Mile Solutions went bankrupt amid...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/startups-struggling-to-make-financial-ends-meet

Kodiak Robotics shaves unibrow off its autonomous trucks

The fifth generation of Kodiak Robotics’ autonomous truck design moved more components into mirror-mounted SensorPods, eliminating the “unibrow” of cameras and radars above the windshield that suggests a science project rather than a production truck.

Kodiak is aiming for the same end-of-2024 time frame that competitors TuSimple and Aurora Innovation point to for limited driverless commercial runs of their autonomous trucks, albeit with a more streamlined appearance.

Aurora moved to a cleaner...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kodiak-robotics-shaves-unibrow-off-its-autonomous-trucks

Nikola shares plunge to all-time low after $100M stock offering

Nikola Corp. filed a $100 million public offering of company stock. with a private buyer agreeing to buy shares the company cannot sell.

Investors drove shares in the electric truck and hydrogen fuel startup to an all-time low in after-hours trading Thursday. Nikola trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol NKLA.

Nikola starved for operating cash

Starved for cash, Nikola plans to produce hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks (FCEVs) for sale in the fourth quarter. The company said Wednesday it...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-shares-plunge-to-all-time-low-after-100m-stock-offering

Exclusive: TuSimple needs to win markets, customers as it stabilizes

TUCSON, Ariz. — Cheng Lu mostly watched from the sidelines for seven months as autonomous trucking startup TuSimple nearly imploded from the pressure of internal politics and external investigations. Upon returning as CEO in November after being ousted in an awkward succession, Lu quickly assessed the state of affairs and moved to stabilize the company.

So how is that going?

In his first public interview since being rehired to the top management post, Lu told FreightWaves that TuSimple is making...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/exclusive-tusimple-needs-to-win-over-markets-customers-as-it-regains-stability

Current TuSimple employees discuss their work after mass layoffs

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TUCSON, Ariz. — TuSimple leaders asked Charles Minear for his take on which of his electrical...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/current-tusimple-employees-discuss-their-work-after-mass-layoffs

With $1B in the bank, reputationally dinged TuSimple looks ahead

TUCSON, Ariz. — TuSimple Holdings needs closure on a raft of investigations before it can reclaim technology leadership in the nascent autonomous trucking industry. But a balance sheet with nearly $1 billion is a big advantage.

“Our runway is three years, and that’s excluding any strategic decision on China,” TuSimple Chief Financial Officer Eric Tapia told FreightWaves in an interview at the company’s testing operations site. “China’s a great business. They have some interesting initiatives...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/with-1b-in-the-bank-reputationally-dinged-tu-simple-looks-ahead

Fintech platform Navix raises $5M, captures interest of industry angel investors

Logistics fintech platform Navix announced Tuesday it has secured $5 million in seed funding from several strategic and angel investors, including Tommy Barnes, logistics veteran and chief revenue officer of less-than-truckload platform MyCarrier, and Rob Estes, chairman and CEO of LTL carrier Estes Express Lines.

In an interview with FreightWaves, Navix co-founder Eric Krueger explained that after founding the company in June 2021 it has been flying under the radar — self-funded — and working...

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