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Today’s number is 300. That is the number of robot axis GM Cruise recalled after the crash.

Hello and welcome back to news, trends & insights in the industry.

In today’s edition:

• 3 Start-ups (Cruise, Skyfarer, Deus Robotics)

• 2 Old guards (Walmart, FedEx)

• 1 Tech in the EVs (Magenta)

• 1 Logistics Origins (Suez Canal Crisis)

Let’s dive in.

In the Box

Deus Robotics raises $1.5 million seed funding

Ukrainian robotic warehousing start-up has closed $1.5 million in funding to help the company attract new customers in Europe and the US and expand its line of warehousing solutions.

The funding was led by SMRK VC - a Ukraine venture fund.

Before the funding, Deus successfully completed one of the biggest pilot projects with Nova Poshta - a private parcel operator using 40 robots for picking and parcel sorting.

How the start-up has not been able to launch in a Nova Poshta office in Bila Tserkva, near the capital city of Kyiv due to Russia's invasion.

GM Cruise recalls 300 robotaxis after crash

General Motors’ Cruise recalls 300 robotaxis for a software update after one nearly crashed with a bus in San Francisco.

Skyfarer and BT complete medical delivery trial

The trial saw 130 drones conducted over 32 kilometers route between the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust sites.

The trial was jointly conducted by BT Network connectivity, Skyfarer Ltd, and Medical Logistics UK in October 2022.

Technology

Magenta Mobility raises $22m Series A1

The Pune- based start-up has recently closed its Series A1 of $22 million to expand its freight across India as well as improve its technology.

The funding was led by bp Ventures - the investment arm of conglomerate bp and Morgan Stanely India Infrastructure.

The company aims to expand the following:

• 4,000 three wheels EVs

• Up from 750 four-wheel EVs from 2024.

The EV start-up claims to have 750 electric vehicles for last-mile deliveries across Indian cities including; Bengaluru, Mumbai, Noida, and more.

Old Guards

FedEx

The logistic giant announced is restructuring its air flight in the following ways:

• Implementing direct routes

• Outsourcing air flights

• Downgrading surface transportation

• Streamlining support issues like maintenance

The goal is to save $700 million.

In the announcement, Richard Smith, the head of FedEx Express, who will serve as president and CEO of the airline and international under the reorganization said:

“Having more flexibility in how we move volume means we can improve density and utilize our purple tail fleet for what it is intended for to quickly move high-value expedited time-definite shipments around the world.“We’re changing the fly-fly-fly model for a lot of this traffic to a much more economical truck-fly-truck model.” -

Ford

The automaker giant has made strategic investments in Indonesia’s based nickel facility - Pomalaa Block HPAL Project to source critical minerals needed for electric vehicles.

Ford took a stake in two other companies:

• PT Vale Indonesia Tbk

• China-based Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co

“This framework gives Ford direct control to source the nickel we need – in one of the industry’s lowest-cost ways – and allows us to ensure the nickel is mined in line with our company’s sustainability targets, setting the right ESG standards as we scale,” Lisa Drake, vice president for Ford Model e EV industrialization.

Logistics Origins

Suez Canal Crisis - 2021

In March 2021, the world was gripped by a crisis at the Suez Canal, caused by the grounding of the massive cargo ship Ever Given.

The Ever Given is one of the largest container ships in the world, measuring 400 meters in length and capable of carrying up to 20,000 containers.

The crisis began on March 23, 2021, when the Ever Given ran aground in the southern part of the Suez Canal, blocking the vital waterway and causing a major traffic jam.

The incident quickly made global headlines, as the Suez Canal is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world, accounting for about 12% of global trade.

Efforts to free the Ever Given were complicated by its size and weight, as well as by high winds and a sandstorm that had reduced visibility in the area.

A team of tugboats and dredgers worked around the clock to dig out the ship's bow and refloat it, but progress was slow and the situation grew increasingly dire.

As the days passed, more than 400 vessels were stranded at either end of the canal, waiting for the Ever Given to be moved. The blockage disrupted global supply chains and caused significant financial losses for shipping companies and exporters.

On March 28, after nearly a week of efforts to refloat the Ever Given, a breakthrough finally came when the ship was partially freed and towed to a nearby lake.

This allowed some traffic to resume through the canal, but it would be several more days before the Ever Given was fully dislodged and traffic could flow normally once again.

The crisis at the Suez Canal highlighted the importance of this vital shipping lane to the global economy and raised questions about the risks of relying on a single chokepoint for so much of the world's trade.

It also underscored the challenges of managing the world's largest ships, which can pose significant risks to the environment and to the safety of those who work on them.

Thank you for reading.

My goal is to break down complex technologies in the logistics and supply chain industry. Hope it is worthwhile.

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Over and out,

Okerosi