Daily Insight:

SPACs have raised more than $70B so far this year, setting a new record. (Click to Tweet).

Uber unveiled a $250M stimulus aimed at bringing back former drivers and attracting new ones. The money will be used for onboarding, bonuses, and guaranteed pay. It'll be dispersed over the coming months.

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• Bonuses will be based on several factors such as location and time. For example, in Austin a driver will receive $1,100 if they complete 115 trips. Drivers in Phoenix will get $1,775 for 200 rides.
• In February, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi signaled Uber would offer incentives to increase driver supply in the first half of 2021.
• Low driver supply and high rider demand have led to the current median hourly rate being 25%-75% higher than it was in March 2020 in cities such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Miami.
• Lyft is offering $800 bonuses, covering rental car costs, and providing extra money to drivers who complete rides that last more than nine minutes.
• Uber revealed it had 93 million “monthly active platform consumers” in Q4 2020, a 16% decrease YoY.
• Lyft's monthly active users in Q4 2020 fell by 45% from 20 million in 2019 to 12.5 million.
• The decline in users forced drivers to seek other employment or federal aid. According to the Washington Post, at least 27,000 Uber and Lyft drivers received more than $80M of government relief.

President Biden's $2.3T infrastructure proposal calls for $100B in consumer rebates for electric vehicles. This would be a huge win for automakers such as Tesla and General Motors, who no longer qualify for existing $7,500 rebates as they've sold more than 200,000 zero-emission models.

Other notable details:

• $15B to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the nation
• $20B for electric school buses
• $25B for zero-emission transit vehicles
• $14B for other tax incentives
• A breakdown of the entire proposal is here.

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• Biden has proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% to finance the plan.
• Congressional Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have called on Biden to introduce a smaller, targeted package that wouldn't undo the 2017 tax cuts.

Singapore ride-hailing giant Grab will reportedly merge with the Altimeter Capital Growth I SPAC to go public at a $35B valuation. Grab has raised $12.1B since its inception in 2012 and was previously valued at more than $15B. The merger will generate $2.5B for south-east Asia's most valuable startup.

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• Grab is also in the food delivery space and offers financial services such as payments, loans, and insurance. 
• It competes in a market that covers more than 655 million people in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• Grab's revenue grew by 70% in 2020, but it remains unprofitable. Softbank, Uber, and Toyota are notable investors in the ride-hailing giant.
• Gojek, Grab’s Indonesia-based rival, is currently in talks to merge with e-commerce company Tokopedia prior to a listing.
• SPACs have raised more than $70B so far this year, setting a new record. This would be the most valuable SPAC deal to date.
• Last month, it was reported that Chinese ride-hailing company Didi is looking to go public at a $100B valuation.

Tiger Woods was speeding before the car crash that left him with severe injuries to his right leg, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Woods was driving between 84 and 87 mph — about 40 mph over the speed limit — when he crashed his SUV on Hawthorne Boulevard near Ranchos Palos Verdes, California, in February. Villanueva said Woods' vehicle was traveling at about 75 mph when it hit a tree. The car's data recorder showed the brake was never engaged during the crash, indicating that Woods may have accidentally hit the accelerator during the accident.

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• That stretch of road on Hawthorne Boulevard sees frequent crashes. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department data indicates there were 13 crashes, with four resulting in injuries, just between Jan. 3 and Feb. 23, 2020, in the area.
• Villanueva said the vehicle's speed was the sole reason for the crash. Detectives did not have Woods' blood tested for drugs or alcohol.
• Woods has had multiple surgeries since the incident. He tweeted on March 16 that he had returned to his home in Florida to continue his recovery.

This story first appeared in Inside Daily Brief. You can read the full issue here.

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• The International Air Transport Association reported an 89% international passenger traffic decline YoY in February, pointing to poor industry recovery. Although overall air traffic in March was only 10% below the 2019 level, according to Flightradar.
• Tesla refunded customers that were charged twice for vehicles purchased in mid-March, leaving them with a bill of up to $142,000. The automaker also gave a $200 credit for its online store.
• Ethiopian Airlines said that one of its airplanes landed at an airport under construction in Zambia by mistake. The unopened airport is about 13 miles from the operating airport at which the plane was due to land.
• SpaceX won't offer tiered pricing for its Starlink satellite service, according to president Gwynne Shotwell. Starlink costs $99 a month and $499 for the physical kit.
• Last-mile delivery startup AxleHire raised $20M during its Series B funding round. The funds will be used to improve its same-day and next-day delivery infrastructure.
• You don’t need a PhD in molecular biology to understand the investment potential of this scientific breakthrough.*

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