CES 2024 or bust, Superpedestrian e-scooters hit the auction block and Fisker struggles to meet sales goalsThe Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation.
I appreciated a bit of rest and recovery, just in time for CES 2024.
The Big Three U.S. automakers (Ford, GM and Stellantis) won’t have big splashy displays and announcements as in past years.
However, there will be plenty of automotive, and more broadly, transportation companies and startups in attendance.
Shell Ventures, InMotion Ventures, Porsche Ventures, and Revo Capital also participated.
More than 20,000 electric scooters belonging to Superpedestrian will be auctioned off later this month, along with other equipment from the startup’s U.S. operations, after closing its doors December 31.
Two “global online auction” listings have appeared on the website of Silicon Valley Disposition, an online market for “surplus assets,” which will feature scooters and other paraphernalia from cities Superpedestrian operated in, like Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York City.
The first auction opens January 23, and will run for three days.
A successive auction is set to run from January 29-January 31.
Though it raised $125 million less than two years ago, the company struggled financially in 2023 as it operated its shared scooter fleets in dozens of cities around the globe.
Superpedestrian, the e-scooter startup known for its self-diagnostic software, is shutting down its U.S.-based shared scooter operation and exploring a sale of its European business, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
The company’s director of US operations, Alexander Berg, confirmed the news to his team Friday afternoon on a Zoom call.
Superpedestrian itself has gone through a series of layoffs, including one just months after closing its Series C round.
Superpedestrian used technology, and specifically diagnostic and safety software, to differentiate it from rivals like Bird and Tier.
Superpedestrian had planned to build and roll out new scooters equipped with its branded Pedestrian Defense to 25 cities across the United States and Europe in 2022.
