EV Special Purpose Acquisition Companies continue to trend upwards

Welcome to another edition of The Friday 5 with Steve Greenfield, Founder and CEO of Automotive Ventures, an auto technology advisory firm that helps entrepreneurs raise money and maximize the value of their companies.

We have a number of technology deals to announce on today’s show, so let’s get started.

Last year was the year of the special purpose acquisition company or SPAC, and we saw many electric vehicle manufacturers go public as a result.

This year, the very same trend continues. And Tesla’s stock price is helping to support the interest in public EV manufacturers.

A 4.8% rally in Tesla’s share price late last week boosted Elon Musk’s past Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

As of Thursday, Musk’s net worth was $189 billion dollars, $1.5 billion more than Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017.

The milestone capped an extraordinary 12 months for Musk. Over the past year, his net worth soared by more than $150 billion in possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history.

And so the EV SPACs continue…

Faraday Future

First off, EV startup Faraday Future is in talks to go public through a merger with SPAC Property Solutions Acquisition Corporation.

The special purpose acquisition company is seeking to raise more than $400 million in equity to support the transaction, which is slated to value the combined entity at around $3 billion dollars.

Lucid Motors

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors is in talks to go public through a merger with one of Michael Klein’s special purpose acquisition companies. A transaction could be valued at up to $15 billion.

Lucid is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Reparify

This week, reparify, doing business as AsTech, a portfolio company of Kinderhook Partners, acquired BlueDriver, a leading provider of direct-to-consumer aftermarket diagnostic scan tools and services.

The BlueDriver diagnostic tool is able to match a vehicle’s make, model, and trouble code to a specific fix from a repair database that has been verified by professional automotive technicians. Once the proper fix is identified, customers can seamlessly order parts online within the BlueDriver application along with clearing diagnostic trouble codes upon completion of the repair.

Congratulations to Tony Rimas and Paul Cifelli on getting this deal done!

AutoVitals

AutoVitals, a leading provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to automotive repair and maintenance shops, has acquired BayIQ, a provider of automated marketing software to the independent tire and automotive repair industry.

BayIQ’s software solutions help shops build customer loyalty, increase car counts, and increase average repair order by combining their customer engagement platform with key features like comprehensive loyalty program management and automated service reminders.

Oxbotica

Oxbotica, a global leader in autonomous vehicle software, has announced the completion of a $47 million dollar Series B investment led by BP Ventures.

Oxbotica was founded in 2014, and their product is a software platform providing Universal Autonomy. It is fast to deploy, low energy, hassle free, hardware agnostic autonomy and applicable to a vast array of vehicle types both on and off road.

The advanced technology supports Oxbotica’s unique horizontal B2B model providing operators, integrators and manufacturers the autonomy functionality and flexibility they need – be that a full stack or on a component-by-component basis.

The KEEPS Corporation

The KEEPS Corporation, the provider of North America’s premier automotive service and parts analytics and pricing optimization system, announced that it has received a significant equity investment from SSM Partners, a Memphis based private equity firm focused on growth companies.

KEEPS will use the financing to continue its expansion, accelerate product innovation and invest in additional sales and marketing resources. The company will continue to evaluate strategic acquisition opportunities, with additional equity capital available from SSM.

Congratulations to father/son duo Les and Lee Silver!

Companies to Watch

Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my monthly newsletter, I showcase a few companies each month, and we take the opportunity here on the Friday Five to share some of those companies each week with you.

Today, we’ll look at two companies to watch, Park My Fleet, and Traver Connect.

Park My Fleet 

Our first company to watch, Park My Fleet, is positioned to benefit from the transition to fleet ownership and management.

Parkmyfleet.com was founded by Real Estate and Automotive executives with over 40 years of fleet management and storage experience, and provides fast and scalable solutions that can expand or contract based on parking and storage needs.

Their unique group of Real Estate partners grants them a footprint in every US market and major metro. With thousands of acres in their inventory, they can “flex” to accommodate vehicles for as little as 30 days and up to 5 years.

Parkmyfleet.com leverages emerging IoT technology to reduce logistical complexity, enhance monitoring and security, and streamline operations. Their leading-edge telematics-based platform delivers the most advanced fleet tracking capability on the market today, providing robust and scalable fleet management solutions. Combining GPS and car-to-cloud sensors, their integrated telemetry system seamlessly connects vehicles to transport coordinators, enabling real-time tracking and optimization.

Services offered by ParkMyFleet include: Vehicle Transport, Reconditioning, Inventory Management, Title and Registration, Sale Preparation, and Vehicle Maintenance Services.

Their Advanced Telematics solution provides an all-in-one vehicle tracking and fleet control solution, including Cellular Connectivity, Location Tracking, Vehicle Status, Immobilization, Accident Detection and Keyless Entry.

Traver Connect

Our second company to watch is Traver Connect, which was founded in 2011 by serial entrepreneur John Traver.

Traver built the original Sales Business Development Center, or BDC, for the automobile industry back in 1991.

Traver Connect provides dealers with a complete suite of tools and services that enable them to connect with their customers, to service them until they buy their next vehicle from their dealership.

In an environment where many dealers are looking to outsource as much as possible, Traver Connect’s Automotive Service BDC can ensure every service call is answered, every pre-sell recommendation is made, and enables dealers to realize an increase in service appointments. All of this directly contributes to absorption, increases a dealer’s average repair order, or RO, and will enhance their overall customer experience.

Traver Connect’s automotive service BDC should be considered a profit tool, not a line item expense. It’s 100% self-funding and increases both dealer’s service departments top and bottom lines.

Did you miss last week’s episode of The Friday 5? Watch it here now! And don’t forget to share your questions and comments with Jim Fitzpatrick at jfitzpatrick@cbtnews.com.