Apr 20, 2022 | Business
Very Clean Planet (VCP) today announced the launch of its global digital engagement hub for carbon asset management and the inaugural OTC (over-the-counter) I-REC (International Renewable Energy Credit) trade between Hebei Construction and Investment Group Co., Ltd. (HECIG) and BroadVision Hong Kong, Ltd. (BVHK).
VCP is the world’s first blockchain-enabled platform where each carbon credit certificate can be traced end-to-end, preventing any fraudulent offering or double counting that is difficult to verify in today’s market. Specifically, VCP empowers insight into each I-REC in much finer granularity regarding its origin, process, seasonality, and a host of other pertinent environmental attributes, ensuring the member organization’s compliance with its corporate ESG standards in the most stringent, accountable, and timely manner.
“The lack of transparency and trust for cross-border carbon credits poses serious challenges to multinational corporations seeking to achieve carbon neutrality across all locales as well as to regional renewable energy producers seeking to monetize their carbon assets globally,” said VCP Managing Director Yunping Hsu. “VCP has been built from the ground-up to digitally transform the global carbon market, alleviating those challenges while delivering superior efficiency, security, liquidity, and value for our members.”
“We are very excited to partner with VCP to launch its digital engagement hub for I-REC, which is seamlessly integrated with our blockchain-based enterprise carbon asset management platform,” said Mr. Zhu Shaokang, CEO of BravoWhale Technology (BWT), “This makes VCP the world’s only platform that conveys unprecedented insight into each I-REC’s entire lifecycle, resulting in greater trust and more timely decisions for all participants.”
“As a global leader in professional services for sustainability and climate change, Deloitte is devoted to supporting clients on business transformation by taking advantage of technology and data, based on strong collaboration with strategic partners such as HECIG and BWT,” explained Allan Xie, Climate & Sustainability Practice Leader, Deloitte China. “Today’s inaugural I-REC trade between HECIG and BVHK on VCP symbolizes that a successful closed-loop digital carbon ecosystem has come into fruition. We look forward to expanding this ecosystem so as to build a more sustainable future, together with our partners and clients.”
“A robust, scalable, fully digital and truly global carbon platform is the key to fulfilling the world’s zero-carbon commitments under the Paris Accord,” commented Dr. Daniel Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) lead author on the seminal report which contributed to its winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. “We applaud VCP’s and BWT’s vision and efforts in launching this groundbreaking platform and for consummating its first cross-border I-REC trade between HECIG and BVHK by addressing critical issues such as authenticity, timeliness, and traceability, once and for all, which should solidify the international drive and mutual trust toward a greener future with a compelling financial incentive.”
“Yingda Securities has been a pioneer in carbon asset management in China,” stated Mr. Chen Kai, CEO of Yingda Securities Co., Ltd., a wholly-own subsidiary of the State Grid Corporation of China. “We are very enthusiastic about digital transformation in the carbon economy and believe initiatives like VCP will have a positive impact to global enterprises for achieving their ESG compliance objectives.”
“To comply with the Chinese Government’s two-carbon mandate,” said Mr. Wang Shuanghai, Chairman of Jointo Energy Investment Co., Ltd. (000600.SZ), an HECIG’s wholly-owned subsidiary. “HECIG has led the energy industry in digital transformation by adopting cutting-edge technologies such as BWT’s blockchain/IoT platform solution to digitize and intellectualize our carbon assets with outmost accountability, so that they can be efficiently traded and optimally monetized internationally. We invite and welcome all responsible organizations worldwide to join our crusade toward carbon neutrality and to transform our earth into a very clean planet.”
About Very Clean Planet
Very Clean Planet is a global digital engagement hub that manages, aggregates, and facilitates the flow of carbon assets, guaranteeing unprecedented authenticity, transparency, efficiency, immediacy, and liquidity. We are driving a paradigm shift for the world to reach carbon neutrality on schedule by empowering organizations to meet their mandated or voluntary ESG (Environmental & Social Governance) compliance targets ahead of schedule. To register as a member, please visit www.verycleanplanet.com for more details.
About BravoWhale Technology
BravoWhale Technology, headquartered at the Shanghai Pudong Free Trade Zone, is a leading platform solution provider that helps the enterprise unlock and maximize its intrinsic asset value via digital transformation, with proven use cases and compelling success stories across B2B financing, taxation, carbon management, etc. Integrating blockchain, big data, AI, and IoT into a holistic cloud platform while optimizing it per actual business scenarios, our solution empowers the enterprise to digitize its core assets such as cash flow or carbon credits into a private chain of transparent and immutable data for the benefit of engaging counterparties to conduct their businesses with higher efficiency and greater trust, thereby unleashing the true value of such underlying assets. For more information, please visit www.bravowhale.com.
Press contact: Sandra Chen (sandra.chen@verycleanplanet.com)
Topic: Press release summary
Aug 18, 2021 | Business
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. (“Woven Planet”), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, announced the closing of the acquisition of CARMERA, a U.S.-based spatial AI company that specializes in developing scalable, next-generation mapping solutions for automated mobility, a proposed transaction previously announced in July 2021. Following its acquisition of Level 5, the automated driving division of Lyft Inc., this is the second acquisition for Woven Planet, a group that is focused on mobility innovations and investments in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more.
The CARMERA team has been a long-standing, trusted partner to Woven Planet, and with the closing of the transaction, Woven Planet will immediately oversee their offices and operations in New York and Seattle. They will join Woven Planet’s Automated Mapping Platform (“AMP”) team, helping develop AMP to become the most globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform, enabling high-precision localization support to automated vehicles. CARMERA’s strengths in map updates, change management and camera-based crowdsourcing from fleets will complement and help expand upon the HD mapping platform Woven Planet has already built. Together with Level 5 and Toyota Research Institute (“TRI”), the addition of CARMERA will bring Woven Planet one step closer to achieving its vision “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live.”
The deal closure follows the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of the deal.
Comment from James Kuffner, CEO, Woven Planet
“This acquisition will accelerate our AMP initiative that will advance our mission to develop the safest mobility in the world at scale. Bringing CARMERA’s world-class engineers and experts into the fold–as well as additional technology resources and footprints in New York and Seattle–the Woven Planet team, alongside the team of TRI and Level 5, will help us reach our goal of providing the best globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform. We will transform the world we live in through mobility technologies that can bring about a happier, safer future for us all.”
About Woven Planet Group
Woven Planet Group represents a carefully curated blend of expertise and resources dedicated to bringing the vision of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Through innovations and investments in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more, we are transforming how humankind lives, works, and moves. We exist to design, build, and deliver secure, connected, and sustainable mobility solutions that benefit all people worldwide. Founded in 2018 as Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development (“TRI-AD”), Woven Planet is composed of four complementary companies: Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha and Woven Capital.
For more information, please visit: https://www.woven-planet.global/
About CARMERA
CARMERA is a spatial AI company, built on the revolution of vehicular crowdsourcing and remote sensing to capture street-level change, at global breadth and high definition depth. CARMERA employs an open systems approach to working with the world’s leading automotive companies, commercial mobility operators, and mapping platforms. With a team hailing from leading geospatial, machine learning and computer vision organizations, and venture backing from Google Ventures among others, the company is headquartered in New York City and Seattle. CARMERA is the recipient of multiple industry awards, including Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 North American Mapping Company of the Year.
For more information, please visit: https://www.carmera.com/
Contact
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc.
pr@woven-planet.global
Cop
Jul 20, 2021 | Business
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. (“Woven Planet”), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, announced the closing of the acquisition of Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, Inc. (“Lyft”), a proposed transaction previously announced in April 2021. This marks the first acquisition for Woven Planet, a group that is focused on mobility innovations and investments in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more.
With the acquisition in place, Woven Planet will be provided with technology, talent, and an international footprint that will accelerate its efforts. Woven Planet will immediately oversee Level 5’s offices and operations in Silicon Valley and London. In addition, Woven Planet welcomes Level 5’s team of over 300 high-caliber engineers, research scientists, and mobility specialists. It will also be acquiring the Lyft division’s significant sensing, computing, and software assets, and Level 5’s strategic capabilities in automated driving systems.
The deal closure follows the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of the deal and determination that there are no unresolved national security concerns with respect to the transaction.
Comment from James Kuffner, CEO, Woven Planet
“As the first major acquisition for the Woven Planet Group, Level 5 represents a significant investment in our future. This deal strengthens our capabilities to deliver on the promise of freedom and mobility for all, uniting the resources, talent and technology needed to place us at the forefront of the mobility revolution. World-class skills and expertise from Level 5 will be combined with exceptional engineering know-how from Woven Planet and research insights from the team at Toyota Research Institute to form an industry brain trust. We are excited to bring this acquisition over the finish line, building a ‘dream team’ within the automotive and mobility industry.”
About Woven Planet Group
Woven Planet Group represents a carefully curated blend of expertise and resources dedicated to bringing the vision of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Through innovations and investments in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more, we are transforming how humankind lives, works, and moves. We exist to design, build, and deliver secure, connected, and sustainable mobility solutions that benefit all people worldwide. Founded in 2018 as Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development (TRI-AD), Woven Planet is composed of four complementary companies: Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha, and Woven Capital.
For more information, please visit: https://www.woven-planet.global/
About Lyft
Lyft was founded in 2012 and is one of the largest transportation networks in the United States and Canada. As the world shifts away from car ownership to transportation-as-a-service, Lyft is at the forefront of this massive societal change. Lyft’s transportation network brings together rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals and transit all in one app. Lyft is singularly driven by our mission: to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.
Contact:
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc.
pr@woven-planet.globa
Jul 15, 2021 | Business
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. (“Woven Planet”), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, announced the acquisition of CARMERA, Inc. (“CARMERA”), a U.S.-based spatial AI company, which specializes in bringing next-generation road intelligence to automated mobility at scale. This is the second major deal for Woven Planet in North America, following the April 2021 announcement to acquire Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft.
Once the deal is closed, the CARMERA team will report into the Automated Mapping Platform (“AMP”) organization of Woven Alpha, Inc. (“Woven Alpha”). Woven Alpha focuses on exploring new strategic areas for business expansion and incubates several innovative projects such as Woven City and Arene, which is Woven Planet’s open software platform. AMP is a connected crowdsourced software platform that supports the creation, development and distribution of high definition (“HD”) maps–a key enabler for smart and safe automated mobility.
The Woven Alpha team plans to develop AMP to become the most globally comprehensive road and lane network HD map platform, enabling high-precision localization support to automated vehicles. The acquisition of CARMERA will accelerate AMP’s shift from the R&D stage to the next phase of commercialization by bolstering the platform’s engineering team with top experts in the development of HD maps. In addition, it will provide access to CARMERA’s sophisticated map update, change management and IoT sensing technology.
Together, the teams will tap into CARMERA’s ability to successfully update HD maps from crowdsourced, camera-based inputs–a significantly cheaper and faster approach than traditional methods. This will strengthen AMP’s ability to serve a comprehensive set of road classes and features, reflecting changes in lane markings, traffic signals, signs and more in near real-time, and support its future multi-regional commercial launch.
CARMERA will join Woven Planet Group as a wholly-owned subsidiary, expanding the company’s footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters by adding New York and Seattle offices to its planned offices in Silicon Valley and London.
Comment from Mandali Khalesi, Vice President of Automated Driving Strategy and Mapping, Woven Planet
“AMP has been a key project of Woven Planet since its foundation, helping support its vision of ‘Mobility to Love, Safety to Live.’ We’ve been progressing steadily in bringing safe automated mobility to the passenger and commercial vehicle segments, such as our recent announcements with Isuzu Motors Limited and Hino Motors, Ltd., and with Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation. I’m really excited to welcome CARMERA to Woven Planet. With CARMERA joining the team, we’ll be able to hit the accelerator. CARMERA’s software stack, which is focused on real-time HD map changes and proprietary hardware custom-tailored to crowdsourcing, is an ideal complement to AMP’s mapping efforts. In addition, their world-class experts will allow us to bring forward the execution of key strategic milestones and jumpstart operations in the United States.”
Comment from Ro Gupta, CEO and Co-founder, CARMERA
“Woven Planet and AMP have been highly aligned with CARMERA’s culture and mission from the beginning. Our teams have a common view of the unmet need for ubiquity in advanced mobility data going forward, including maps. Woven Planet, thanks to its software-first automotive DNA, shares our commitment to the end-user–to creating a technology stack that can be used safely and without friction by all stakeholders from data originators through to data consumers. This validates and furthers our founding thesis that richer, faster spatial intelligence is both critical to the next generation of ‘Mobility for All’ and viable at global-production scale. I’m beyond excited for CARMERA to join the Woven Planet organization, as it continues to strengthen its footprint in North America and ramp up its software-first development of mobility innovations.”
An earlier partnership between Woven Planet–under its predecessor organization Toyota Research institute – Advanced Development, Inc.–and CARMERA in Tokyo, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, laid the groundwork for this deal. Woven Planet and CARMERA participated in collaborative projects in 2018, 2019 and 2020, which proved the companies can successfully develop and update HD maps from commodity, device-agnostic sources, such as commercially available dashboard-mounted cameras.
About Woven Planet Group
Woven Planet Group represents a carefully curated blend of expertise and resources dedicated to bringing the vision of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Through innovations and investments in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more, we are transforming how humankind lives, works, and moves. We exist to design, build, and deliver secure, connected, and sustainable mobility solutions that benefit all people worldwide. Founded in 2018 as Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development (TRI-AD), Woven Planet Group is composed of four complementary companies: Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha, and Woven Capital.
For more information, please visit: https://www.woven-planet.global/
About CARMERA
CARMERA is a spatial AI company, built on the revolution of vehicular crowdsourcing and remote sensing to capture street-level change, at global breadth and high definition depth. CARMERA employs an open systems approach to working with the world’s leading automotive companies, commercial mobility operators, and mapping platforms. With a team hailing from leading geospatial, machine learning and computer vision organizations, and venture backing from GV (Google Ventures) among others, the company is headquartered in New York City and Seattle. CARMERA is the recipient of multiple industry awards, including Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 North American Mapping Company of the Year.
For more information, please visit: https://www.carmera.com/
Topic: Press release summary
May 10, 2021 | Business
Woven Planet Holdings, Inc. (“Woven Planet”), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation, has agreed to acquire Level 5, the self-driving division of Lyft, Inc. one of the largest ride-hailing companies in the world. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet.
The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute, Inc. (“TRI”) already working together with Woven Planet. The resulting combined “dream team” of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field.
Today’s announcement places Woven Planet at the center of the connected and automated driving movement by providing
Talent
an international team of top-tier engineers, research scientists, and domain experts in mobility services.
Technology
a robust set of sensing, computing, and software assets, and strategic capabilities in automated driving systems.
International Footprint
once the acquisition is complete, Woven Planet will have an expanded footprint beyond its Tokyo headquarters, with offices and engineering teams in Palo Alto, CA and London, UK.
In addition to the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet and Lyft have signed commercial agreements for utilization of the Lyft system and fleet data to accelerate the safety and commercialization of the automated-driving technology that Woven Planet will develop.
Lyft will receive approximately $550 million in cash, with $200 million paid upfront subject to certain closing adjustments and $350 million of payments over a five-year period.
As a result of this transaction, Woven Planet will accelerate revolutionizing the world of mobility and realize its mission of “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live,” fueling a broader vision of human happiness and well-being on the planet Earth.
Comment from James Kuffner, CEO, Woven Planet
“This acquisition advances our mission to develop the safest mobility in the world at scale. The Woven Planet team, alongside the team of researchers at TRI, have already established a center of excellence for software development and technology in the Toyota Group. Bringing Level 5’s world-class engineers and experts into the fold―as well as additional technology resources–will allow us to have even greater speed and impact. This deal will be key in weaving together the people, resources, and infrastructure that will help us to transform the world we live in through mobility technologies that can bring about a happier, safer future for us all.”
Comment from Logan Green, CEO, Lyft
“Today’s announcement launches Lyft into the next phase of an incredible journey to bring our mission to life. Lyft has spent nine years building a transportation network that is uniquely capable of scaling autonomous vehicles. This deal brings together the vision, talent, resources and commitment to advance clean, autonomous mobility on a global scale.”
Comment from George Kellerman, Head of Investments & Acquisitions, Woven Planet
“With the acquisition of Level 5, Woven Planet is driving towards its mission to combine the innovative culture of Silicon Valley with world-renowned Japanese craftsmanship to create the mobility solutions of the future. This acquisition significantly accelerates our ability to bring technology solutions forward with an influx of exceptional engineers and leading-edge technology. It also provides a solid foundation for international expansion and future hiring efforts in the world’s strongest talent markets. We aim to become the center of interconnected mobility systems, weaving together a variety of technologies and partnerships extending far beyond the automotive industry. This acquisition marks the first in a coordinated strategy to consolidate leading technologies and talent to help realize this vision.”
Comment from Luc Vincent, Executive Vice President, Autonomous Technology, Lyft
“Both Woven Planet and Level 5 are focused on improving mobility through technology, bringing about a future that benefits people around the world. With this deal in place, I am very excited that the Level 5 team will be better positioned than ever to deliver on its long term mission to bring autonomous vehicles to market. As part of Woven Planet, we will be able to leverage exceptional automotive engineering expertise as well as the considerable resources of an iconic business, while continuing to move with the energy and speed of a start-up. It is exhilarating to be part of this new venture, expanding our mission and building the foundational technology that will support mobility and the smart cities of tomorrow.”
About Woven Planet Group
At Woven Planet Group, we are on a mission to design a happier planet through secure, connected mobility solutions. Starting business in January 2021, Woven Planet Group is an expansion of the operations of Toyota Research Institute – Advanced Development, Inc. dedicated to bringing its vision, “Mobility to Love, Safety to Live” to life. Under this shared goal, our four companies, Woven Planet Holdings, Woven Core, Woven Alpha and Woven Capital are transforming how people live, work, and move through new innovations and investment in automated driving, robotics, smart cities, and more.
For more information, please visit https://www.woven-planet.global/
About Lyft
Lyft was founded in 2012 and is one of the largest transportation networks in the United States and Canada. As the world shifts away from car ownership to transportation-as-a-service, Lyft is at the forefront of this massive societal change. Our transportation network brings together rideshare, bikes, scooters, car rentals and transit all in one app. We are singularly driven by our mission: to improve people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.
