Transport Tech Accelerates

TECH IN THE NEWS

Trump on Tech - 1. The Trump campaign was hacked and media received internal documents from an anonymous source. | 2. Elon Musk and Trump’s live interview on X had 70M+ total viewers and covered his tech policy.

Robo Calls - The FCC has proposed a rule requiring robocallers to disclose that they’re using AI tech on every call made.

AI Collaboration - NVIDIA and California launched a project to train 100,000 students, educators, and workers in AI skills.

"Pyramid Scheme" - The SEC is suing crypto firm NovaTech alleging that it fraudulently raised $650M+ from 200k+ investors globally.

MetaMusical - Meta and Universal expanded a multi-year music licensing agreement, continuing access to UMG’s catalog via Meta’s apps and agreeing to work to address “unauthorized AI-generated content."

🚨 PS: INVESTORS

We’ve got some fresh open deals (marked 🔥). Check them out below, and reach out to invest@thetech.buzz for more info or for an intro. 🤝 

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THE HOTTEST THING IN TECH
Transport Tech Accelerates

We are in the midst of the second great transport tech revolution. New Electric (EV) and AI-powered Autonomous (AV) Vehicle tech is set to transform mobility and logistics as we know it. China is leading the charge on innovation and cost. Its’ aviation regulator foresees a $279-billion “low-altitude” air mobility economy by 2030, a 4x expansion from 2023. US regulators are blocking the transfer of cheaper, more efficient Chinese tech and slowing AV adoption with red-tape. But, there are still great investment opportunities to be had as this booming sector continues to gain speed.

Musk’s Texas Underground

Elon Musk’s The Boring Company just announced its Prufrock-4 “Hyperloop” tunneling machine is testing in Texas. The behemoth is 308 feet long, weighs 800,000 pounds, and boasts a thrust comparable to 90% of a Falcon Heavy rocket at liftoff.

Meanwhile, China is now testing a vacuum sealed 621-mph Maglev Train "Hyperloop rival". The T-Flight can reach a mind-boggling 621 mph, faster than commercial airliners. Phase 3 tests are even aiming for 2,485 mph! Either this is the future of high-speed rail, or a covert railgun project.

A Low-Altitude Economy

LA startup Archer Aviation is set to launch an eVTOL electric air taxi network in LA by 2026 in time to solve world cup traffic chaos. It promises to turn hours-long car journeys into 10 minute flights.

Meanwhile, China is rapidly expanding its low-altitude economy as it loosens airspace curbs and grants incentives to build. It has just started testing the country's largest cargo drone service ahead of opening a 62-mile route to Shanghai with a payload capacity of 2 metric tons. And number of eVTOL air taxi services (manned and unmanned) are gearing up.

Autonomous Ground Transport

Uber is doubling down on its AV efforts, reporting a 6x increase in autonomous trips y-o-y. Partnerships with Waymo and Alphabet in the US and with BYD in other major markets highlight its commitment to a driverless future. Tesla’s robotaxi service is also set to arrive in October.

China has also loosened AV restrictions and robotaxis and robobuses are now testing in 19 cities. In fact Chinese ride-hail drivers are already anxious their jobs are at risk. BYD also just launched its first model equipped with lidar sensors to enhance vehicle perception and safety.

The Future of Transportation

The path to modernization seems clear in China, but It’s harder to predict the form this transition will take in the US. Much will depend on the new political priorities. ~40% of Biden’s IRA manufacturing projects are delayed or paused, so its unclear if subsidies are a silver bullet in the US. Still there are an increasing range of companies that could be worth looking into. One is Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide. It just announced it is seeking $400M in a US IPO after getting Chinese regulator approval.

FOR INVESTORS
Open Deals

Request an intro to founders - invest@thetech.buzz

1. 🔥 Robotics for Agricultural Efficiency - Pittsburgh - Built & deployed robotic hardware for the largest U.S. tree nurseries, reducing costs and increasing efficiency by 50x. Hardware and AI data layer. Beginning to scale globally. Post-revenue, at capacity. (Seed+)
   

2. 🔥 Quant Trading Software Company - New Jersey - Large-scale automated day-trading algorithm designed for volatile U.S. equity markets. Profitable through extensive backtesting and live simulation. Seeking equity investment for software company.

3. Cricket for the Modern World - India - Physical and virtual ecosystem fostering cricket experiences for enthusiasts and upcoming pros. Data-driven, locally proven, globally scaling. (Seed)

4. ⏱️ AI Agent Employees - New York - Sophisticated workflow automation for businesses towards fully autonomous organizations. Previously-exited founder. Backed by Tribe & Kenetic. (Seed)

5. Outbound B2B Campaign AI Co-Pilot - Lexington, MA - Turn any CRM into an AI optimized sales agent for personalized customer campaigns. Founder previous exit to PE. Notable Angel on board. Top Hubspot App. Post revenue. (Seed)

6. Therapy for Baldness - Los Angeles, CA - Developed by ex-Kythera R&D Leader. Virtual development model and world class team seeking to fund POC study. (Seed)

🔥 — hot deal!
⏱️ — leaving soon.

FOR EMPLOYERS
Job Candidates

Request an intro to candidates - jobs@thetech.buzz.

1. Struck Capital Venture Associate, ex-West2East (Russell Wilson) Director of Special Projects, ex-Phoenix Holdings Investment Associate. Harvard BA. Vietnamese pro basketball player.

2. Lockheed Martin Software Engineer, ex-Rutgers Junior Full Stack Developer. Secret clearance. Expertise in C++, PHP, SQL. Rutgers BA in Computer Science.

TRENDING TOOLS AND BUZZY TECH
Tools

Google - Gemini-powered "Take notes for me" for Google Meet.

JPMorgan Chase - LLM Suite internal AI assistant for productivity tasks.

Perplexity - Partners with Polymarket on real-time market predictions.

Tech

Apple - Working on “Apple Vision” Smart Glasses + cheaper Vision Pro 2.

SingularityNET - Worldwide supercomputer network for training AGI.

Air Traffic - 1. LA to get eVTOL taxis. | 2. China cargo drones, air taxis.

DEALS WE’RE WATCHING
Closed Deals:

Integrated Product & Customer Support - Palo Alto workflow platform startup DevRev raised $100.8M at a $1.15b valuation from Khosla, Mayfield, and Param Hansa.

"Superhuman AI Agents” - DeepMind AI researcher-founded AI agents startup Reflection AI raised funding at a $100M valuation from Sequoia.

Deals & Companies to Watch:

Opal - OpenAI is Leading a $60M round into the webcam hardware startup and collaborating on AI-enabled devices that can be used as “creative tools.” Founders Fund and Kindred are also expected to invest.

WeRide - Chinese autonomous vehicle company is seeking $400M in a rare US IPO for a Chinese company, after China gave it the go-ahead.

Funding Buzz Watch:

Balderton Capital - British VC firm secured $1.3B towards two new funds aimed at backing European early-stage and growth stage startups focused on AI applications rather than AI infrastructure.