In other news, autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup Serve Robotics is going public via a reverse merger with a blank-check company, following a $30 million funding round. The company, which was spun out of Uber's acquisition of Postmates, has raised a total of $56 million to date. Other notable deals include Archer Aviation's $215 million funding round and transportation analytics firm Inrix's $70 million financing round.
Key takeaways:
- The California Public Utilities Commission approved the last remaining permits to Cruise and Waymo, allowing them to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24/7.
- Shared micromobility operator Veo is moving into the retail space, starting with limited sales of its popular Cosmo seated scooter.
- Serve Robotics, an autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup, is going public via a reverse merger with a blank-check company, having raised $30 million in a round led by existing investors Uber, Nvidia and Wavemaker Partners.
- Archer Aviation raised $215 million in new capital to accelerate its path to commercialization, and settled its trade secret legal dispute with rival Wisk, agreeing to collaborate and make Wisk its exclusive provider of autonomy technology for a future autonomous variant of Archer’s Midnight aircraft.