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Rivian Stock Roller Coaster Continues as Amazon Van Delivery Faces Delays
David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
Rivianās stock lost 7% yesterday on the back of news that the company could face delays in fulfilling Amazonās order for a fleet of electric delivery vans due to legal issues with a supplier. The electric vehicle maker is suing Commercial Vehicle Group (CVG) over a pricing dispute related to the seats that the supplier promised, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The legal issue could mean that Amazon may not receive their electric vans on time. The dispute hinges on whether or not Commercial Vehicle Group is allowed to raise the prices of its seats after Rivian made engineering and design changes to the original version. Rivian says the price hike from CVG violates the supply contract. CVG denies the claim.
Regardless, the dispute could hamper Rivianās ability to deliver electric vans to Amazon on time. The ecommerce/streaming/cloud computing/AI megacorporation controls an 18% stake in Rivian as one of the companyās largest early investors. Amazon has previously said it hopes to buy 100,000 delivery vehicles from Rivian by 2030.
The stock plunge marked another wild turn for the EV manufacturer. Last week, Rivian shares dropped 21% on Monday after Ford, another early investor, announced its intent to sell 8 million shares. The next few days saw even further declines as virtually the entire market saw massive losses, but then Rivian rallied partially on the back of their earnings report on Wednesday, gaining 28% back by Friday. Then came yesterdayās 7% slide. Today the stock is up another 10%.
Hold on tight, who knows where weāre going next.
From Your Site Articles
- Five Things You Should Know About Rivian - dot.LA āŗ
- Amazon Reveals Stake in Irvine EV-Maker Rivian - dot.LA āŗ
- Rivian Stock drops as Amazon Van Delivery Faces Delays - dot.LA āŗ
- Why Mullen, Rivian and Canoo Bet Big on Fleet Delivery - dot.LA āŗ
- Rivian's Roadmap Includes Price Bumps and Tech Pivots - dot.LA āŗ
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David Shultz
David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.
LA Venture: Serial Entrepreneur Jessica Jackley on Pursuing a Goal: 'Just Take More Steps Anyway'
05:00 AM | October 20, 2021
On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, Untapped Capital, Alltruists and Kiva founder Jessica Jackley talks about her experience supporting entrepreneurs across the world, and offers advice to founders on what to do when encountering doubt -- from themselves or others.
"The pursuit of an opportunity, a vision, like an imaginary world that you want to make real. You're running after this thing, you're pursuing it without regard to what you have in front of you," she said. "So there's always going to be something wrong."
Jackley's journey as an entrepreneur started when she founded Kiva, a nonprofit that lends money to low-income entrepreneurs. She started the company and moved to East Africa where she heard stories of people starting businesses with just $100.
"I wasn't asked to swoop in and help or save. I was asked strategic questions about where they could access loan capital, where they could access business training," said Jackley. She added that the individuals she met through the service didn't want handouts.
Kiva offered $200, $300 loans at no interest. That model helped build successful small businesses. Every year, they saw a raise on how many loans they could offer. The company has so far facilitated $1.5 billion in loans since the business started in 2005.
More recently, Jackley founded Untapped Capital and Alltruists. Untapped gave her opportunities to invest in unexpected companies and watch them rise, much like Kiva. Alltruists was born out of the pandemic.
"I really wanted to figure out a way, especially as we were on lockdown, like how do we not just have our lives be waiting for the doorbell to ring and another package is dropped off and we just consume it, right? What, what would it look like to reach back out into the world in a way that is helpful," said Jackley.
She created a box subscription service that provides kids with activities that can benefit them and the world. The company's last box focused on making a pollinator hotel for bees.
From her ventures, Jackley recognized when pursuing your dreams, something will always go wrong.
"There's going to be days when you are told, or you're telling yourself, 'well, I'm not old enough', 'I'm too old'. 'I don't have enough experience'. 'I have the wrong experience', whatever," said Jackley. "Just take more steps anyway towards that thing. Cause that's what great entrepreneurs do."
Hear more of the episode, in which Jackley talks about her goal to disrupt the volunteer economy and more.
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civic techdiversity in techdiversity in vcecommercefintechl.a. venturepodcastsventure capitalwomen in techwomen in vcla venture
Minnie Ingersoll
Minnie Ingersoll is a partner at TenOneTen and host of the LA Venture podcast. Prior to TenOneTen, Minnie was the COO and co-founder of $100M+ Shift.com, an online marketplace for used cars. Minnie started her career as an early product manager at Google. Minnie studied Computer Science at Stanford and has an MBA from HBS. She recently moved back to L.A. after 20+ years in the Bay Area and is excited to be a part of the growing tech ecosystem of Southern California. In her space time, Minnie surfs baby waves and raises baby people.
LAās Data Center Supply Crunch
11:30 AM | September 06, 2024
š¦ Spotlight
Happy Friday Los Angeles!
The Los Angeles data center market is experiencing a significant supply crunch, ranking 12th in growth among top markets since 2020 with only 265 megawatts of colocation inventory (data centers where businesses rent space to store their computing hardware and servers). Despite this, demand is surging, driven by AI, cloud, and hyperscaler needs, with AI accounting for 20% of new data center demand nationally. This scarcity is creating a highly competitive environment, with vacancy rates at a record low 3% and asking rents rising 13-37% year-over-year. For Los Angeles, this presents both challenges and opportunities in the big picture. The city's strategic position as a global entertainment hub and its connectivity to international markets through subsea cables make it an attractive location for data centers. However, the limited inventory and rising costs could potentially hinder growth and innovation in the tech sector. To maintain its competitive edge, Los Angeles will need to address these constraints through new developments, such as GI Partners' 16 MW addition at One Wilshire, and by focusing on high-connectivity, high-power capacity submarkets. The city's tech community should prepare for a landscape of increased competition for quality data center space, higher costs, and the need for innovative solutions to meet growing demand, particularly in AI and cloud services. While Los Angeles faces a challenging data center supply crunch, its strategic advantages and ongoing developments offer a promising path forward.
š¤ Venture Deals
LA Companies
- Linker Finance, a platform for community banks, raised a $3.7M Seed Round co-led by TenOneTen Ventures and Chingona Ventures. - learn more
- Daisy, a one-year-old startup that designs and installs smart home and office technology systems, raised a $7M Series B co-led by Goldcrest and Bungalow, with previous investors Bullish and Burst Capital also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $13.3 million. - learn more
LA Venture Funds
- Acre Venture Partners and Anthos Capital participated in a $17M Seed Round for Switch Bioworks, a developer of sustainable fertilizers. - learn more
- Westlake Village BioPartners participated in a $325 M Series C for Arsenal Biosciences, a South SF-based programmable cell therapy startup. - learn more
- Clocktower Ventures participated in a $15M Series A for Ume, a startup whose platform enables SMBs to offer BNPL consumer financing. - learn more
- Amplify.LA, an LA-focused pre-seed firm, is raising up to $60m for its sixth fund. - learn more
- Slauson & Co., a venture firm focused on "economic inclusion," raised $100m for its second fund. - learn more
āØ Featured Event āØ
LAās tech leadership is set to reunite after a long break! This two day summit will focus on building strong connections, sharing insights, and fortifying the local tech community.
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