NEON advises new Earlybird fund UNI-X on million-euro financing round of Droiddrive

8 December 2021 | NEON has advised Earlybird UNI-X on the multi-million financing round of the Aachen-based logistics start-up Droiddrive. In addition to the new lead investor Earlybird, all existing investors (Innoenergy, the offshoot of the EU-funded European Institute for Innovation and Technology, the Mainz-based eco-fund Wi Venture, NRW.Bank and Be10x Capital) are also participating in the financing round.

Earlybird’s new 75 million euro UNI-X fund particularly focuses on early-stage startups and technical spin-offs from universities. The team of six in total is made up of experienced tech investors Frédéric du Bois-Reymond, Stephan Rauscher, Michael Schmitt, Johannes Triebs (all formerly P5 Capital), Michael Hoeck and Philipp Semmer (both formerly Motu Ventures).

Droiddrive, which emerged from the technical university RWTH Aachen in late 2018 and in which Earlybird UNI-X invested, focuses on automated cargo trailers for delivery services. The cargo vehicles (Ducktrains) can be coupled to bicycles, tricycles and other electric-powered cargo bikes such as Citkar’s or Ono’s – without a driver’s license and up to five vehicles of 300 kilogram payload each behind each other. The customer group includes parcel delivery services, grocery retailers and urban haulers who deliver Ikea items, for example. With the fresh capital, further prototypes and the first “Follow-Me” vehicle are to follow.

Background:

NEON’s team has been advising Earlybird on investments on an ongoing basis, most recently on its investment in Berlin-based startup MAYD, AI startup Aleph Alpha and, among others, on Unicorn sennder’s Series D financing round and its previous merger with Everoad. By advising the new fund UNI-X, we were able to further expand and strengthen our relationship with Earlybird and are looking forward to further exciting investments.