Interesting Logistics, Cleantech and Transportation Startups from Y Combinator W22 Batch
Y Combinator is one of the world’s prestigious accelerators in the world. Every year, Y Combinator invests $500,000 per company in large numbers of startups. There are two cohorts of startups – Winter and Spring. The accelerator has invested in over 3,000 companies since 2005 that are worth over $400B combined. Some of the big names are Airbnb, Coinbase and DoorDash etc.
Y Combinator $500,000 investment is made on 2 separate safes (simple agreement for future equity):
- $125,000 on a post-money safe in return for 7% of equity
- $375,000 on an uncapped safe with a Most Favored Nation (“MFN”) provision
The numbers of startups in each cohort vary. In W22, there were 236 startups that will be pitching on 29 and 30 March 2022 on Y Combinator demo days.
In W22, there are a wide variety of startups from different sectors and geographies. In this article, we have listed some of the interesting startups from logistics, electric vehicles and transportation verticals.
AeonCharge is operating in the US and building an aggregator app for paying all-electric chargers in the country. Drivers can locate, activate, and pay for any charging session with the AeonCharge app. This will help drivers to avoid having multiple apps to access charging stations and manage everything from single app. accounts.
FreshFactory is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The company is building a network of hyperlocal cold chain fulfillment centers, transportation, and equipped them with smart fulfillment management system. The centers allow e-commerce business owners to store, pick & pack, and deliver their products to their consumers seamlessly.
Alima is based in Mexico City, Mexico, and solving the fresh produce procurement challenge in Latin America. The company is providing supply services to businesses in Latin America to procure produce efficiently. Alima has an integrated platform that allows businesses to manage their expenses, plan their buying orders, and select their products in one place from growers directly.
Cofactr is based in New York, USA, and helping to resolve supply chain issues in electronics hardware. The company has built a platform, having more than 500+ global supplies from across the globe. The clients can use the plan its electronics hardware requirements, using supply chain intelligence, and intuitive forecasting tool.
Globally is based in Munich, Germany, and solving the urban delivery challenge through its delivery-as-a-service model. The company is building an urban delivery fleet of cargo bikes, which helps omnichannel retailers located in dense urban areas to ship their orders. The service allows retailers to deliver their products faster and sustainably, as well as offering a good user experience.
Impossible Mining is based in San Jose, USA, and solving the challenge of mining battery metals from seabeds. The company has built underwater robots to pick up polymetallic nodules (rocks that are rich in critical battery metals. Specially nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper) from the deep ocean seabed without damaging the environment. These metals are used for electric vehicles batteries.
Powerhouse AI is a Singapore-based startup, and helping warehousing company to automate inventory checks. The company has built an AI-based phone application that enables warehouse operators to automatically verify and count warehouse inventory. The company will expand its technology to other hardware including drones, robots, CCTVs, etc. to track, handle, and verify any type of good.
Topship is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and building Flexport for Africa. The company is helping African businesses to export/import cargo freight and parcels to their suppliers, distributors, and customers. The company is building a Global Distribution System that makes delivery of parcels, cargo, and freight easy for African businesses.
EXO Freight is based in Michigan, USA, and is solving booking challenge for open deck carriers. The company is building a managed marketplace for open deck carriers and shippers. The company is serving shippers that require transportation of product using flatbed and open deck styles of trucks to transport the goods and materials.
OpenOps is based in San Francisco, USA, and helping business to manage supply chain. The company is building a project management tool for ecommerce businesses to effectively work with their supply chain. OpenOps is a Gmail extension that enables teams and suppliers to collaborate without leaving their inbox.
Seabound is based in London, the UK, and solving carbon emission challenge from cargo ships. The company is building carbon capture equipment for large cargo ships. The product will help shipowners to reduce up to 95% of their CO2 emissions and comply with new global regulation.
Fleetzero is based in New Orleans, USA, and revolutionizing cargo shipping industry. The company is building battery-electric cargo ships that operate with 5X higher net margins than fossil fuel ships. The battery technology is the only pathway to decarbonize the $1.3 trillion shipping industry without a green premium.
Rider is based in Karachi, Pakistan, and is solving e-commerce logistics and last-mile delivery services. The company is building a tech platform to connect three stakeholders (shippers, delivery agents, and customers) in real-time to offer quick and flexible logistics and last-mile delivery services for e-commerce companies.
Touch and Pay (TAP) is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and is digitizing and processing microtransactions in Africa. The company processes cash-based microtransactions across Africa’s informal sector, starting with transportation and expanding to informal merchant payment. This allows more consumers to use digital modes of payment.