Lithium-ion battery recycling firm gets big investment, car-sharing marketplace Getaround agrees to IPO

Welcome to this episode 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.

My visits to dealerships continue. Last week I was in Dallas and Boston, and this week I was in New Jersey. I’m visiting dealerships to discuss how they see the future unfolding, and where there are opportunities to implement technology solutions to make their operations more efficient.

I hope I can meet with many of you as I continue our RoadShow for the new Automotive Ventures DealerFund.

 So with that, let’s get right into this week’s AutoTech deals. 

Li-Cycle

First up this week, Lithium-ion battery recycling firm Li-Cycle is teaming up with Glencore as the mining giant expands its stake in the EV battery supply chain.

Glencore will invest $200 million in the company as well as designate Li-Cycle its preferred lithium-ion battery recycling partner worldwide.

The Toronto-based recycling firm has developed a process for breaking down end-of-life batteries and extracting their valuable metals for reuse.

Both companies have key EV-related business with General Motors. Glencore supplies cobalt for GM’s batteries and Li-Cycle is a partner with GM at its battery production campus being built in Warren, Ohio.

Li-Cycle is currently building out its North American recycling network, with construction underway on a series of battery shredding sites, as well as a “hub” in Rochester, New York.

The company’s hub will receive shredded battery material, known as “black mass”, from locations across Canada and the U.S. and prepare the lithium, nickel, and cobalt it contains for reuse in new batteries.

Rinsed

Next up this week, Rinsed, the car wash CRM, announced it raised $12 million dollars in Series A financing from Bedrock Capital and Founders Fund.

Rinsed helps car washes of all sizes delight their customers and grow their subscription revenue with easy-to-use customer relationship management software. Rinsed integrates with car washes’ existing point-of-sale hardware, and enables automated email & text marketing, customer engagement to reduce churn, and online sales directly through their website.

The company previously raised an unannounced $3 million dollar Seed Round from Bedrock Capital and Y Combinator along with other angel investors. Mischief Ventures additionally participated in both the Seed and Series A.

Rinsed already serves more than 300 car washes and grew annual recurring revenue by over 400% in the past year.

The company helps manage over 1 million subscribers for some of the highest volume car wash groups in the country.

Getaround

And finally this week, Getaround, the car-sharing marketplace that functions as an Airbnb for vehicles, has agreed to go public later this year through a merger with InterPrivate II Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.

A transaction that gives the combined company an equity value of about $1.2 billion, if there are no redemptions.

Companies To Watch

Every week we highlight interesting companies in the automotive technology space to keep an eye on. If you read my monthly industry Intel Report, 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 have two companies to watch: HeyCharge and Stable Insurance.

HeyCharge

Our first Company to watch this week is HeyCharge.

HeyCharge’s mission is to make EV charging ubiquitous and affordable, starting with retrofitting apartment buildings across Europe. 

They offer a no-hassle, fast retrofit of low-cost electric vehicle chargers to your residential multi-unit property (for example, a parking garage below an apartment building). 

As an added incentive, HeyCharge offers ZERO UPFRONT COST for installation. 

Check out HeyCharge at www.HeyCharge.com.

Stable Insurance

Our second company to watch this week is Stable Insurance.

Stable provides rideshare, carshare, and delivery vehicle owner insurance. 

Stable is building tools and additional services alongside its insurance product that will help you more efficiently and profitably run your business.

Stable’s rideshare insurance works with the rideshare platform’s insurance,

so they only charge you for the times you’re not driving to or with a passenger.

Because of this, their premium is often lower than other insurance offerings.

Check out Stable Insurance at www.StableINS.com.

——————-

So that’s your weekly Friday 5, a quick wrap-up of the big deals in the automotive technology space over the past week.

If you’re an early-stage automotive technology entrepreneur looking to raise money, or an entrepreneur who is trying to decide whether and when they should raise money or sell their business, I’d love to speak with you.

Thank you for tuning into CBT News for this week’s Friday Five, and we’ll see you next week!

Did you enjoy this episode of the Friday 5? Please share your thoughts, comments, or questions regarding this topic by submitting a letter to the editor here, or connect with us at newsroom@cbtnews.com.