BrightDrop, the commercial EV subsidiary of General Motors that launched in 2021, is being swallowed by its parent company.
GM said Thursday that BrightDrop — a startup spun out of the automaker’s Global Innovation organization to become a wholly-owned subsidiary — will become part of GM. BrightDrop CEO Travis Katz, who was an entrepreneur at Redpoint Ventures before taking the top job, has stepped down as CEO and will no longer be employed by GM, the company confirmed. BrightDrop CTO Anthony Armenta remains and will join GM’s software leadership team, which is led by Mike Abbott, former vice president of engineering for Apple’s Cloud Services division, who joined in May.
A small number of BrightDrop employees are expected to be affected by the change as some positions are eliminated. The company said the majority of those workers should be able to move to other jobs within GM.
GM has been positive about the move, noting that BrightDrop’s absorption into the company will benefit fleet customers by providing them with an efficient single point of contact through the new GM Envolve brand. GM Involve, launched in May 2023, includes the automaker’s entire commercial portfolio, including natural gas and electric vehicles, as well as connected services and software used by fleet customers. BrightDrop was created to sell an ecosystem of electrical and connected products to commercial customers. Its first products were an electric truck called the EV600 and an electric pod-like pallet called the EP1.
“We are committed to helping our fleet customers move their businesses forward,” said Rory Harvey, EVP and president of GM North America in an emailed statement. “Our innovative commercial solutions and EV vehicle options ranging from the Chevrolet Bolt EV to the BrightDrop Zevo are all available through GM Envolve. This gives our customers a one stop shop for all their commercial needs.”
The idea for BrightDrop was sparked by a team at Global Innovation — the same internal organization that led to the creation of OnStar Insurance, OnStar Guardian and GM Defense — that was evaluating the growth of e-commerce and consumer demand for online delivery. which had been exacerbated by COVID-19.
When it first launched, GM touted BrightDrop’s independence and startup-like structure as factors that would allow it to move quickly and capture market share. Months after its launch, Katz told TechCrunch that the data collected from these commercial EVs was where the company could build lasting relationships. For example, the logistics system can monitor the chain of custody, how trucks traverse routes and how packages move to determine if deliveries are hitting bottlenecks and how a company can eliminate inefficiencies. “Longer term, I think we see it’s … the really exciting opportunity. We think of ourselves as a solutions provider, but it’s really about software at the core,” Katz said in 2021.
GM also had ambitious goals for BrightDrop, saying last November during its investor day that the subsidiary was on track to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2023. The company said at the time that it has received more than 25,000 reservations and letters of intent from customers, including Walmart, Hertz and FedEx;
It’s unclear whether BrightDrop achieved that goal, as GM hasn’t broken out its financials.
