Important Innovations

Solar Electric Car Company Goes Public & Hits Near $40 per Share                                                                                Sono Motors Sion Hot New Solar Electric Automotive Technology Germany's Sono Group, parent of Sono Motors - the solar electric car company - went public on the Nasdaq on November 17, 2021 for an initial price of $15 per share, soared to $38.74 and closed on Friday at $31.73 per share.  The company has a hot electric car - the Sion - and hot solar body panel technology.  Sono has 16,000 pre-orders of the Sion, which is the company's first solar electric vehicle.  The down-payments were $3,000 each.  The car is priced at $28,700 and will be delivered to consumers in the first half of 2023.  90% of the orders were placed in Germany or German speaking nations.  The company is also licensing its solar technology to other companies.  The first buyer is electric autonomous shuttle company EasyMile. Entreneurial Success Story of Breakthroug

  EV Rivian To IPO On Nasdaq                                                  Source:  Rivian Multi Billion IPO on Nasdaq Irvine, California based electric vehicle maker Rivian is considered by many to be the leader of EV startups.  The company is expected to go public this week.  It is looking for a valuation of $65 billion which would put in the major leagues alongside of Ford, which is valued at $77 billion, and GM, which is valued at $85 billion.  Many stock market analysts and automotive experts are asking is Rivian the next Tesla?  It certainly does have big backers. Amazon With a 20% Stake The company is backed by Ford and Amazon, which has a 20% stake. Rivian plans to list on the Nasdaq with the symbol "RIVN".  Despite the fact that it is a startup, the company has a revenue stream. It has put its electric pickup truck R1T into production and plans to deliver 1,000 pickups to customers by the end of 2021.  It also has a big contract with Amazon to deliver 100,000 &quo

  EV Rivian To Go Public on Nasdaq                                                  Source:  Rivian Multi Billion IPO on Nasdaq Irvine, California based electric vehicle maker Rivian is considered by many to be the leader of EV startups.  The company is expected to go public this week.  It is looking for a valuation of $70 billion which would put in the major leagues alongside of Ford, which is valued at $77 billion, and GM, which is valued at $85 billion.  Many stock market analysts and automotive experts are asking is Rivian the next Tesla?  It certainly does have big backers. Amazon With a 20% Stake The company is backed by Ford and Amazon, which has a 20% stake. Rivian plans to list on the Nasdaq with the symbol "RIVN".  Despite the fact that it is a startup, the company has a revenue stream. It has put its electric pickup truck R1T into production and plans to deliver 1,000 pickups to customers by the end of 2021.  It also has a big contract with Amazon to deliver 100,00

  Sono Motors Files for an IPO on Nasdaq                                             Source:  Sono Motors' Sion Valuation Could Be More Than $1 Billion Sono Motors of Munich, Germany was founded in 2016 by four friends working out of a tiny garage. The company specializes in developing solar electric, zero emissions cars. Fast forward five years, the company has filed for a US initial public offering (IPO).  The company will be listed as SEV on the Nasdaq with a expected valuation in excess of $1 billion.  Sono has developed an advanced solar electric vehicle called Sion.  It is looking to pull in investor money to expand operations as governments around the world are pushing for greener, cleaner, zero emissions vehicles like Sion.  Growing from zero revenues and a concept to $1 billion in valuation in five years is the essence of a hot, fast growth company that global investors are currently evaluating. Driving on Sunshine Sono's Sion is a fully electric vehicle that has solar

  Sono Motors Files for an IPO on Nasdaq                                             Source:  Sono Motors' Sion Valuation Could Be More Than $1 Billion Sono Motors of Munich, Germany was founded in 2016 by four friends working out of a tiny garage. The company specializes in developing solar electric, zero emissions cars. Fast forward five years, the company has filed for a US initial public offering (IPO).  The company will be listed as SEV on the Nasdaq with a expected valuation in excess of $1 billion.  Sono has developed an advanced solar electric vehicle called Sion.  It is looking to pull in investor money to expand operations as governments around the world are pushing for greener, cleaner, zero emissions vehicles like Sion.  Growing from zero revenues and a concept to $1 billion in valuation in five years is the essence of a hot, fast growth company that global investors are currently evaluating. Driving on Sunshine Sono's Sion is a fully electric vehicle that has solar

  Germany's Lilium Flying Taxis Is Going Public                                                  Source:  Lilium New 7-Seater Startup IPO Expected Valuation on Nasdaq at $3.3 Billion Germany's flying taxi startup Lilium just announced that it's going public on the Nasdaq in a deal that values Lilium at $3.3 billion. The deal is expected to close this quarter. It will enable Lilium to start commercial operations of its 7 seat passenger flying taxis, flown by pilots, in 2024.  The money will be used to finish the certification process, start production and start commercial operations.  As part of the announcement, Lilium unveiled an image of its larger -  7 seat - flying taxi for fast, aerial, intercity commutes.  Previous models have had only 5 passenger seats. e-VTOLS Munich-based Lilium is doing an IPO merger with special purchase acquisition company (SPAC) Qell Acquisition Corporation.  San-Francisco based Qell is led by the former President of General Motors North Americ

  Austin Russell's Luminar Technologies                                                Source:  Austin Russell Autonomous Driving Tech with Lasers Leading the Way This morning, 25 year old entrepreneur Austin Russell woke up a billionaire.  His company Luminar Technologies of Florida went public yesterday on the Nasdaq.  By the end of day, it hit $22.98 a share with a market value of $7.8 billion.  Russell founded the company at the age of 17.  He owns more than 100 million shares and his net worth overnight skyrocketed to $2.4 billion. He has created lidar sensor technology that uses lasers to power autonomous vehicles.  His technology is considered breakthrough.  Forbes is calling Russell the world's youngest, self-made billionaire. Lidar & Laser Tech with Big Investors Backing It Luminar Technologies' (LAZR) lidar tech utilizes lasers to bounce off the car's surroundings and lets it see where it is going.  It provides 360 degree surroundings' intelligence to

  Airbnb With a Possible $35 billion Valuation                                                       Source: Airbnb Fast, Dramatic Turnaround from COVID-19 Business Hit Airbnb, the San Francisco based home rental company, will debut on the Nasdaq on December 10, aiming for a valuation of $35 billion.  It along with DoorDash (my blog 10/30) are expected to be blockbuster U.S. IPO's to close out the year.  Airbnb was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  As travel came to a halt, Airbnb had to layoff 25% of its workforce and get $2 billion in emergency funding from investors.  As people started traveling again in Q3 2020, the company's business turned around and it scored a surprise profit for Q3.  Two new trends moved the company forward.  People opted to book homes rather than hotels.  And, they preferred to book a home away from major cities. Entrepreneurial Success Story Airbnb was founded as a website in 2008 by two entrepreneurs:  Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. They started t

SEC Okays New Silicon Valley Stock Exchange Source:  London Stock Exchange stock image Innovation and Tech Express US regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just approved a new stock exchange.  This will give innovation companies with high growth potential the chance to list their shares outside of traditional big New York exchanges.  The exchange is called the Long-Term Stock Exchange, LTSE and is located in the Silicon Valley of California. Entrepreneur's Idea This concept of a stock exchange for new innovation companies is the creation of entrepreneur, investor and startup advisor Eric Reis.  He raised $19 million from venture capitalists to make this happen.  It will be a Silicon Valley based national securities exchange. Reis says it will promote a unique approach to governance and voting rights.  It will also reduce short-term pressure on these emerging public companies.  The companies will also be able to dual list their shares on the NYSE and