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The next wave of supply-chain innovation will be driven by startups that help incumbents win

TechCrunch

For years, the prevailing narrative for innovation in supply chain has focused on the disruptors: Upstarts that enter the industry with new technologies and business models to displace incumbents. Enablers take on the unglamorous role of helping incumbents stay relevant.

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Z?m wins $150M from San Francisco schools to modernize and electrify student transport

TechCrunch

m, a startup that wants to upgrade student transportation, a five-year $150 million contract to modernize its transport service throughout the district. m’s transportation solution for SFUSD is expected to save the district $3 million per year on average, based on the cost of the incumbent’s solution. m told TechCrunch.

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How To End Your Pitch with Your Vision

Dream It

As all investors know from the case of Uber, you cannot size a market based on an incumbent. Uber’s market was not just the size of black car services; the company’s market would span taxis, public transport, and black car services, and it would expand the market by bringing in more customers with the product’s ease of use and simplicity.

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The Truth About the Scooter Economy?—?An Insider’s Perspective

Both Sides of the Table

As drivers we look out for them, as pedestrians we might be annoyed if they steer in our way but the riders themselves have developed better norms as happens in all forms of transportation. You can’t simply drop a bunch of electric scooters in a market and hope to compete with the data and software advantages of the incumbents.

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Digital road freight forwarder Sennder raises $160M Series, plans European expansion

TechCrunch

Sennder competes with large incumbents like Wincanton and CH Robinson, as well as other startups such as OnTrac and Instafreight. In June 2020 it merged with French competitor Everoad, and acquired Uber Freight’s European business last September. The European logistics and freight sector has a market size of $427 billion.

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Digital freight forwarder Forto raises another $50M in round led by Inven Capital

TechCrunch

It also displays an emissions rating for possible transport options, allowing companies to track carbon emissions. “Forto has proven to be essential in a sector which is under increasing pressure amidst a global pandemic and is dominated by fragmented, non-digital incumbents,” added Michiel Kotting, partner at Northzone.

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Joby Aviation makes its public trading debut on the NYSE

TechCrunch

It’s a sizable amount, but creating an entirely new form of transportation is a capital-intensive business. SPACs are not a new instrument for going public, but they have gained a widespread presence in the transportation space, particularly amongst eVTOL startups looking to secure amounts of capital.