Dynamo Dispatch. A weekly update from Dynamo Ventures covering the latest and greatest in supply chain, mobility, and building venture-scale businesses.

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Weekly Commentary 💭

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⭐ How Major US shippers Are Quietly Raising Rates to Cover Costs Amid Iran War. Shipping companies are quietly pushing Iran-war-driven fuel and logistics costs onto customers through a mix of explicit surcharges and harder-to-spot changes like higher free-shipping thresholds, fewer discounts, and slower delivery. Amazon is adding a 3.5% surcharge for sellers using its fulfillment network, USPS is rolling out its first-ever fuel surcharge on packages, and UPS, FedEx, and Maersk have all raised fuel-related fees as jet fuel prices have surged since the conflict began. Geopolitical shocks are now flowing through everyday commerce faster and more visibly, creating margin pressure across retail, logistics, and e-commerce ecosystems that operators and investors need to watch closely. Completely unrelated, Amazon and US Postal Service Reach Delivery Deal.

What’s Happening in the Strait of Hormuz Since the Cease-Fire? Iran is effectively controlling access through the Strait of Hormuz even after the cease-fire, limiting crossings to a trickle and charging tolls of up to $2M per ship while more than 1,000 vessels remain stranded or delayed. The article’s core point is that the cease-fire has not restored normal shipping. Traffic is still far below peacetime levels, insurers remain cautious, and energy executives are treating the waterway as restricted rather than reopened. That means the real risk is no longer just open conflict but Iran’s ability to weaponize chokepoints, keeping oil, LNG, and broader supply chains under pressure even in a nominal de-escalation. Also, US Blockades Hormuz: Are Supply Chains at Breaking Point? and How Many Ships Are Crossing the Strait of Hormuz?

How Trump’s White House Plans to Spend nearly $70B on ‘Maritime Dominance’. Trump’s White House has proposed nearly $70B in maritime spending for fiscal 2027, centered on a record $65.8B naval shipbuilding push but also extending to commercial-standard tankers and ro-ros, port infrastructure, shipyard grants, workforce development, and fleet upgrades across agencies. The plan positions maritime capacity as a national industrial strategy, with $1.5B earmarked for MARAD programs including ports, the Merchant Marine Academy, and shipyard modernization, alongside additional vessel funding for NOAA, the National Park Service, and the National Science Foundation. This is a major signal that Washington is treating shipbuilding and shipping as strategic infrastructure again, with potentially meaningful downstream implications for yards, Jones Act operators, maritime labor, ports, and suppliers, assuming Congress backs the spending and execution improves. For more, check out Trump’s FY 2027 Budget Doubles Down on Dredging and America’s Maritime Future.

Delta Hits Brakes on Growth Plans as Fuel Spike Reshapes Airline Economics. Delta is pulling back all planned Q2 capacity growth and withholding an updated full-year outlook after the Iran war sent jet fuel prices sharply higher, adding more than $2B to its June-quarter costs and pushing profit guidance below Wall Street expectations. CEO Ed Bastian said the spike will accelerate an industry shakeout, with carriers cutting lower-margin flying, raising fees, and leaning on still-resilient premium demand to offset higher costs; Delta expects to recover roughly 40% to 50% of the fuel hit and gets an extra cushion from its refinery business. The takeaway is that geopolitics is now flowing straight into operating models: higher-for-longer input costs will separate businesses with pricing power, balance-sheet flexibility, and structural hedges from those that were relying on growth alone.

Supply Chain AI Spending To Surge From $2B To $53B By 2030. Supply chain software is moving from AI copilots to agentic systems, with Gartner projecting spend to jump from under $2B in 2025 to $53B by 2030 as companies expand from narrow task automation into multi-agent workflow orchestration. The bigger shift is not just budget growth but procurement behavior. AI assistants are becoming table stakes in SCM software selection, while agentic capabilities are quickly turning into a competitive differentiator for vendors. Supply chain AI is crossing from experimentation into platform strategy, but rea-scaled adoption will depend less on model hype and more on data quality, operational maturity, and workforce readiness. Related, AI in Practice: How Intelligent Supply Chain Execution Redefines Logistics.

Industrial Supply Chain Update: The Shock Is Spreading Beyond Metals. Supply chain disruption has spread beyond metals to downstream inputs such as polymers, semiconductors, and aluminum, making April’s outlook materially worse for manufacturers. The piece argues this is no longer just a pricing story. Polymer prices have spiked, aluminum supply has been knocked offline in ways that may take years to recover, and chip scarcity is reappearing in selective but critical categories like memory and AI-competing capacity. The real implication is that procurement risk is now buried deeper in the bill of materials, so companies that map sub-tier exposure, secure alternate supply early, and prioritize availability over benchmark pricing will be much better positioned than those waiting for obvious supplier increases. Completely unrelated, Borderlands Mexico: Tariff Pressure Shows Up in Customs Data Across North America.

Trump Floats Seizing Iran Oil as He Weighs Chinese Leverage Play. Trump is reportedly floating US control of Iran’s oil sector not just as wartime theater, but as a way to gain energy leverage over China, a longtime buyer of discounted Iranian crude. The idea reflects his broader view that controlling constrained commodity flows creates geopolitical power, even as aides say there are no formal plans. The legal, operational, and political costs would be steep. China, however, may be less vulnerable than the White House expects, given its reserves, diversified supply, and greater tolerance for economic pain. Energy is becoming a more explicit tool in US-China bargaining, tying conflict and sanctions more tightly to trade strategy and raising the risk of sustained volatility across oil, shipping, industrial inputs, and other businesses exposed to geopolitical chokepoints. Also, Oil Prices Spike After Failed US-Iran Peace Talks and Trump’s Blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and It’s Not Just Oil. War in Iran Will Hike the Price of Nearly Everything You Buy.

Liberation Day Tariffs Prolong Supply Chain Strain. Liberation Day tariffs are still scrambling supply chains a year later. Businesses have paid an estimated $140B in duties later ruled unlawful, but delayed refunds are trapping working capital and forcing repeated changes to pricing, inventory, and sourcing strategy. That uncertainty is spilling into freight networks too, as smaller and less predictable orders, lane shifts, and stop-start import behavior make it harder for shippers and carriers to plan capacity, control costs, and maintain service reliability. The bigger takeaway is that trade policy volatility is no longer a one-off compliance issue, but a core operating risk that leaders now need to build into supplier strategy, network design, and cash planning from the start. For more, check out Trade Court Wrestles with Trump’s Replacement Tariffs.

Texas Cargo Theft: How $470k in Vehicles Almost Escaped. Texas authorities intercepted two semis carrying roughly $470,000 in stolen vehicles believed to be headed to Honduras. These cases usually do not start with a dramatic heist; they start with a routine-looking handoff, credible paperwork, and a carrier that appears legitimate, allowing bad actors to gain control long before anyone realizes the shipment has been redirected. The use of multiple trucks and a cross-border route points to organized exploitation of weak verification points, not random theft. Most cargo theft is really an identity and process control failure upstream, not a security failure at pickup. For operators, brokers, and shippers, that raises the stakes on vetting counterparties before a load ever moves, because once freight is moving toward a border, the odds of recovery fall fast.

From Tariffs to Iran War, Geopolitics Are Upending Packaging Supply Chains. Packaging supply chains are getting squeezed from both sides. Lingering tariff instability is still inflating costs and limiting sourcing flexibility, while the Iran war is pushing up oil, plastics, and freight prices on top of that. Brands and suppliers have made incremental moves like adding backup vendors, stockpiling, and exploring refill or lighter-weight formats, but most have not fundamentally rebuilt their networks because domestic alternatives are limited, switching materials is slow, and full reshoring is often unrealistic. The real implication is that packaging has become a frontline geopolitical risk issue, which makes supplier redundancy, better visibility, and tighter customer-supplier collaboration a competitive advantage rather than just an operational nice-to-have. Related, Packaging Industry Adapts to Prolonged Disruption.

The Future of Supply Chain 🎙️

Check out our podcast series that’s been running since 2018. On each episode of the Future of Supply Chain, we sit down with a different entrepreneur, investor, or industry veteran to discuss innovation, technology, and the most exciting opportunities in supply chain as we build the future of the industry together.

Fundraises and M&A 💸

Edmund Raises €2.5M in Seed Funding. Edmund develops an AI-powered industrial troubleshooting platform that integrates machine data, PLC systems, and technical documentation to accelerate diagnostics on the factory floor. The company will use the funding to expand its team, scale across European and US markets, and further develop its AI-driven diagnostics platform. The round was led by FORWARD.one, with participation from University2Ventures and Tensor Ventures.

Conxai Raises €5M in Funding. Conxai develops a vertical AI platform for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector that automates project workflows using multimodal data from sources such as images, sensors, documents, and CAD files. The company will use the funding to advance its agentic AI platform, expand product capabilities like real-time site visibility and workflow automation, and scale adoption across construction projects. The round includes backing from Earlybird, Pi Labs, noa, Argonautic Ventures, and Zacua Ventures.

Kimia Raises $7M in Seed Funding. Kimia develops an AI-powered knowledge platform that aggregates and structures scientific literature, internal documentation, and supplier data to deliver traceable, queryable insights for commercial and technical teams in the chemical industry. The company will use the funds to onboard new enterprise customers, enhance platform capabilities, and expand its global go-to-market efforts. The round was led by Airtree Ventures, with participation from Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital.

Foundry Robotics Raises $19M in Seed Funding. Foundry Robotics is developing AI-first, assembly-focused robotic systems for contract manufacturing aimed at improving efficiency and adaptability in factory operations. The company will use the funding to expand its robotics-driven manufacturing platform and scale its engineering and production capabilities. The round includes investors such as Khosla Ventures, Hanabi Capital, Red Glass Ventures, Zero Shot Fund, and other backers.

Hybron Raises $25M in Seed Funding. Hybron develops advanced carbon fiber composite manufacturing technology that produces high-performance components significantly faster and at lower cost than traditional processes. The company will use the funds to scale manufacturing capacity, grow its team, and support an expanding portfolio of aerospace and defense programs. The round was led by Marque Ventures, with participation from First In, DTX Ventures, Veteran Ventures Capital, Ultratech, Bravo Victor Venture Capital, Gaingels, ZEA, American Center for Manufacturing Innovation, and angel investor Matt Ocko.

Manna Raises $50M in Series B Funding. Dynamo portfolio company, Manna, develops an autonomous aerial drone delivery platform for last-mile logistics, enabling rapid delivery of goods directly to consumers’ homes. The company will use the funds to expand to 40 operational bases across the United States and Europe, scale its delivery network, and support hiring across engineering, operations, and regulatory functions. The round includes investors ARK Invest, ISIF, and Schooner Capital, with continued backing from Coca-Cola HBC, Molten Ventures, and Enterprise Ireland.

American Ocean Minerals Corporation to Merge with Odyssey Marine Exploration in $1B Transaction. American Ocean Minerals Corporation and Odyssey Marine Exploration are combining to create a US-controlled platform focused on deep-sea exploration, harvesting, and processing of polymetallic nodules and critical minerals. The transaction includes over $230M in equity capital, which will be used to advance exploration programs, develop harvesting and processing infrastructure, and support supply chain independence initiatives. The financing comprises a private placement of more than $150M and a $75M pre-public round backed by institutional and strategic investors, though specific lead investors were not disclosed.

Who’s Hiring? 👩‍💻

Be sure to check out the Dynamo website for more job opportunities at our portfolio companies!

UI/UX Product Designer at Ceto in London, England.

VP of Data at Stord in Atlanta, GA.

Senior Structures Engineer at Lux Aeterna in Denver, CO.