Smartcar.com CEO Sahas Katta and John Tough, Energize Ventures Managing Partner, join Yahoo Finance to discuss the funding raised towards automotive climate technology, incentives for people to invest in this, and strategies for growth in expanding EV and renewable energy markets.
Video Transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Well, a rush of investments into climate tech led to a record year for the space in 2021. And our next guests are looking to keep that momentum going by leading the push in mobility software solutions. Let’s bring in Sahas Katta. He is the CEO a SmartCar.com. He’s joined by John Tough, Energize Ventures Managing Partner.
Sahas, I want to start the conversation with you, because you are announcing this $24 million funding round– series B round, I should say. Talk to me about your company and where you see yourself positioning in this transition we’re seeing in the auto space.
SAHAS KATTA: Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me on the program, Akiko. It’s been a pleasure today. Well, Smartcar’s starting point is a developer platform for cars. But before I really jump into what we do, I’m not sure everyone knows what is a connected car. Cars have really become computers on wheels over the past few years.
All these cars are now shipping with 4G or 5G connectivity built in, just like your phone. In fact, nine of 10 cars that shipped last year are internet connected. And it’s been a really incredibly exciting time for the automobile industry. But even with all this progress, it’s been really hard to go build apps for cars. Every brand uses its own fragmented systems. And at Smartcar, we’ve built a platform that lets a lot of innovative mobility companies build apps for cars using a single integration.
AKIKO FUJITA: John, you’re obviously backing Smartcar, but you’ve made a lot of investments in the climate space overall. I know we’re not talking just about EVs here, but talk to me about what’s appealing to you about this company and how you think this moves the ball forward in this transition.
JOHN TOUGH: Sure. Yeah, great question. At Energize, we invest in digital solutions that accelerate the energy and sustainable transition. We firmly believe that mobility and software are colliding. And that’s creating an opportunity for more climate-forward solutions.
At Energize, we do believe specifically that Smartcar can help connect new stakeholders in the climate movement. First and foremost, we believe that utilities, energy providers, firms that are looking to better manage how electrification of mobility will impact the grid and reduce strain– and we believe that Smartcar can help bridge those two parties by connecting new applications to utilities.
BRAD SMITH: Sahas, would love to know what type of data and access to that data that both the services side and the driver’s side is able to take away from these solutions.
SAHAS KATTA: Yeah, absolutely. So Smartcar’s starting point, it’s a very customer-focused company. We’re driven by product-driven growth. There are now over 100 million compatible cars on our platform across North America and Europe. And one of the exciting things about what we’re doing is that we’re enabling consumers to, for the very first time, have access to their own …….
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/smartcar-raises-24-million-build-181007077.html