From Burn Rate Battles To A $40M Boost For Arrive AI

We close the crowdfund, share gratitude for the first 5,000 investors, and outline the path to a public listing with a planned $40 million raise to scale. We talk transparency, stewardship, and a Guinness World Record bell-ringing celebration in New York.

• crowdfund closed and five million raised combined 
• appreciation for first 3,000 and first 5,000 investors 
• why crowdfunding ends and move to public markets 
• planned forty million post-listing raise to scale 
• hiring, engineering, production, and space expansion plans 
• transparency, burn rate realities, and trust 
• ticker dreams, trading readiness, and logistics 
• Guinness World Record bell-ringing goal in New York 
• community-designed swag to honor early owners 
• evolving communications for compliance while staying accessible

Stay close to our social media and announcements, and we are gonna keep you as informed as humanly possible

Transcript

Big News: Crowdfund Closed

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome everyone to another Dan show. Dan O'Toole.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Kylie.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Nice to see everyone. Some big news today. I know some of you, astute followers, have already picked up on it. I'll let you have the honors.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

We're not a broken record today. That's what I want to say. And what that means is we closed Pick Me. After all those extensions that we kept doing, you know, just to keep going, we closed it. So whatever you want to read into that, go ahead and read into it, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Yeah, have fun.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Yeah. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Let your imagination go wild.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

We can't say what we can't say, but you guys know, um, I think you know what that means.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So yeah, and also what it means for us is a moment to reflect on how appreciative we are for so many years of support.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Absolutely. You know, we have our first 3,000, right? The first 3,000 investors. Thank you guys for being our very first 3,000. We've memorialized you on our plaque. But even if you're part of the first 3,000, that also means that you're part of the first 5,000. And so we're trying to figure out a way to pay homage to all of you that pre-funded the company before the rest of the world caught up to where you guys are. So you're a pre-public 5,000 or whatever term we come up with for that. If you have an idea, throw that over to us. So when we go to New York, we want to be able to have some cool swag that uh memorializes that. So um, so anyway, if you're in that first 5,000, everybody that's funded this company to where we are today before we go public, we can't thank you enough. And uh so this was a big day because you know we kept extending these raises to kind of optimize, but we're to the point where uh, you know, we cut the we had negotiated to be able to cut the round short when it was appropriate, and we've just made the determination it that now is the time to shut that off. So thank you guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

And Dan just got in here after um meeting

Gratitude For First 3,000 And 5,000

SPEAKER_01 2:00

with our CFO really quickly to get the latest numbers. We did officially just close the crowdfund last night on Picme. Yep. And so we're getting the final tallies in.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yep, and you can show you can show when this comes out a little blurb about it closed, so you all know it's closed. But yeah, on this raise campaign, uh both direct and through PICME combined, uh, we hit five million dollars. So we get a really good number, right? Yeah. You know, we have a burn rate and you know, crowdfunding has been really, you know, it's been everything for us. Um really gotten us, you know, to where we are. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you guys. But at the same time, you can never get ahead of your burn rate when you're crowdfunding. It's a real grind, as you guys know. And so that's why we're going to the public market. We need access to major capital, and so we can announce something there too, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Yes. Um we will, right? We will

Why Crowdfunding Ends And What’s Next

SPEAKER_01 2:55

say it right now.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I'm gonna say it right now. Don't tell anybody. Okay, guys.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Don't tell our PR team. Hello.

SPEAKER_00 3:02

Don't tell. Uh we have a deal uh where we're gonna be uh raising $40 million once we get to the other side of the transaction here. Once we go public, um we'll have access to $40 million, which is a significant accelerant for everything we're trying to do. Uh you know, we're gonna hire great new people. Uh, you know, we're gonna develop in a bigger way than we've been able to do uh engineering-wise, production units, uh, probably get a bigger space to accommodate more people. And uh everything's linear.

Teasing A $40M Post-Listing Raise

SPEAKER_00 3:35

We're going right to um from investment to development to the field. So we're gonna be uh work really hard to make everything a creative. Um, you know, as we go public, I'd like everybody, hopefully you'll hold your shares, hopefully you'll buy more. And if you have to sell, you know, I want to shake your hand and thank you for being with us and doing what you did. You're a co-owner in this company, you're in the first 5,000, and we celebrate that and we'll never forget you. But I hope you don't leave. We want you to stay around for the big times, which are gonna be in the future here. So what else we have on the list here?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Well, we wouldn't be here without the years of crowdfunding. It just wouldn't have happened. And like you were saying, the burn rate um almost smashed the incoming because what we're doing isn't cheap, you know, from all different angles. It's not, and I will tell you, I've never seen um there have been days where we were like, we can't spend any money at all today. How do we bat bootstrap this to get us past this finish line?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Um and there are you thank you for not buying that pencil sharpener. Hey, it's tough. You guys run businesses, you're you know, you work at companies, you know what it's like. Uh, but you know, the thing about when you're taking investment from from people that you know really don't know you and are are wanting to back and support your concept and your vision, you know, you take that very seriously. I always say, you know, when you're raising

Hiring, Scaling, And Deployment Plans

SPEAKER_00 5:00

money with the backdrop of you know, Sam Bankman Fried and uh Bernie Madoff and Enron, you know, the default is always skepticism. And you know, we want to always counter that with uh genuineness. And so that's why I put my phone number out there. Um if we have the audacity to ask somebody to put one dime in this company, we should be on the other end of a call if you want to reach out to us. So um we don't ever want to change that. We don't want to uh go crazy and start buying tickets to uh you know suites at the Colts or Pacers or any of those kind of things.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

I mean, I would love that, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

We'll go scalp some outside and get a deal. But uh, you know, that's it. When you put money in here, that's what you're getting. And uh we're we're looking for some really exciting things. Who knows what the future is gonna hold, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:44

Yeah, we're seeing a clear picture of what some of the immediate future could look like. And the conversations we're having are really exciting and they are coming to fruition without being able to divulge many um details at all.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

You already made me say the 40 million.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

So don't don't that was not on me, Todd. I'm really sorry. It wasn't me.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

So let's stop right there. But we will have some great announcements that are things are really coming to fruition right now, as Kylie said. Yeah. So I can't wait to uh to be able to tell you guys about that. And I can't wait to be watching CNBC and see uh ARAI, the ticker, which I shouldn't be talking about.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

But right. You he's breaking all of the rules right now.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Um I love that I can't wait to see that. It's gonna be a big day when we first trade. And then um what we're gonna do, we're gonna go public as quick as we can. We're gonna start trading. This has been a long uh you know journey, as you guys know. So as soon as we get you know the official uh go-ahead, we will start trading. Of course, we're gonna get you guys um all your info uh so you can get your chairs placed with your brokerage uh and all those kind of things. Um and uh you know, we want to be the company we want to invest in. So stay with us on that. But um once we get that going, then we're gonna orchestrate a date in the future where we so everybody can methodically plan to come to New York

Transparency, Skepticism, And Trust

SPEAKER_00 7:05

because we're trying to get the Guinness Book of World Records there, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:08

We are. So I've been meeting with the Book of World Records. It's exciting. They think that we're on to a pretty cool idea. Um, and we are, I've already given them our plan. And now we're kind of waiting on the next steps. And obviously, we need to know what day to have them there. So that's one of the hurdles. But we really want to get as many people as possible to celebrate the bell ringing when Arrive goes out there for that day and create the world record and hold the world record for the largest public listing bell ringing.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

We want you to be a part of that. And I don't know if you guys have seen the picture of me, which I'm excited about. I'm gonna show it to you if I can pull it up real quick. Because what I'd like to do is I'm hoping, I'm hoping that uh let's see, if you guys can see that. What I'd love to do is get a picture with as many of you as I can on the on the bell ringing podium there, and then you know, give that to you. And I think that'd be a great um memory of of our moment of what we've created together. And you know, we have 5,000 shareholders. If we could just get 80%, right? Yeah, 4,000 people, I think that would be a record that would never be broken, don't you?

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Yeah, I mean, it would be very tough because we believe firmly that we have the most loyal and largest um investor investor community out there. It doesn't get any better.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

We do. We love you guys and the engagement that we have all the time and the passion that you guys share. And it it's always uh really cool.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

So maybe we can ask for some recommendations as far as um how to commemorate.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

So we've been talking about what what would you appreciate as the first 5,000 and the first 3,000 as a way to proudly acknowledge that you were one of the first to believe in this vision.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

And so would that be would that be a shirt? Would it be a hat? Would it be a coin? Would it be a design.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

I know a lot of you have uh you know are very artistic. You come up with any concepts and you want to share those. If we select

Countdown To Ticker And Trading

SPEAKER_00 9:20

to use something, we're gonna obviously you're gonna be a recipient, but we want we'll hold that up to everybody and let them know what you did. So it's fun. We have always had uh cool submissions uh from our investors, and we love that. Um so yeah, and you know, going out to New York, uh, we can't afford to pay as the fiduciary of your money. You wouldn't want us to do that anyway. But um we'd love to have everybody out there, we'd love to have a big party where we're all celebrating together, high-fiving and all that, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and love to have some really cool swag where we're all wearing the same thing in Times Square, and everybody can see you know that you're affiliated with Arrive AI. So those are some cool things that we can look forward to. And I also want to let you know, I have a bet with Rafi King. I don't know if you guys all know Rafi, our investor relations guy. Um, he he doesn't think as many people are gonna come out as I do. So help me win that bet and prove Rafi wrong, okay? So it's a personal challenge. So um a couple other things I just want to throw out. I want to give a shout out to Paul Yvonne and Laura, uh his his wife, for uh coming up big and helping us here at the end and come over, uh get over the finish line. Uh, I want to say thank you to Brian and Tina Grigsby uh for coming through in a big way as well. Uh and an old friend of mine, uh John Freeman, for uh coming in as well. Um you guys know that the legal expenses really got high on us. Um we didn't anticipate having it go this long and uh the different uh turns and and uh different obstacles that came our way and uh to get over those. And we we needed some funding here at the very end, and we're able to you know get some silver bullets and uh don't ever take that for granted. And I'm not uh diminishing anybody else that even put a thousand dollars in or a hundred bucks. You know, really appreciate every one of you. I hope you know that. But they really came through uh with a personal request of mine, and that really means a lot. So thanks to everybody.

SPEAKER_01 11:24

I also want to mention where we have been very focused on transparency and communication,

Guinness Record Bell-Ringing Vision

SPEAKER_01 11:30

yes, the way we go about that will have to change in a degree.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Don't don't bring this down.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

I know, but I want to say that I applaud you and how transparent and communicative you've been to this group.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

And how wonderful it's been to get to know everybody who is backing us. Um, but you know, as we prepare for the public listing and whatnot, we're um having to learn a whole new set of standards that we're going to have to abide by. But there are gonna be direct channels to stay in the know with every single announcement we make. Dan's not going anywhere. You're still gonna be the star.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Not going.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

I hope it all die.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

I hope it all die right after.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Oh my gosh, don't even okay, cut the video now. We're taking it out. Um but just know that it's uh this is rare. And he has pain he he has taken every single comment personally.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Um were hurtful too.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Some of them were hurtful, but way more often, you know, he was sending us messages of support and confidence from you guys and passing along to the team. And so we've all been beneficiaries of that positivity. Um, because it can be stressful on this side of the equation.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Sure. And you all you know, it's hard to be great for every single person. And that that's the thing that's tough because everybody that came in as a co-owner, and we don't want to diminish anyone, and I don't want anybody to feel like they were left behind or not acknowledged. And that's that's a real hard. And as we go public, I know it's gonna be even harder because we're gonna have more investors and they don't know us like you guys do. And um, but anyway, we're always gonna be here, like Kylie said. We're not changing, our culture's not gonna change. We're not gonna sell out to Wall Street and you know, get rid of all our phone numbers and you know, all the things that all these companies of today, you can't reach anybody. Um, we're always gonna be here. We're never gonna forget you either.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Right?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

It's a big day.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

It is, and it's getting bigger. So stay tuned because imminently we will be coming through with new announcements. You know, yeah, one of the risks of giving uh

Swag Ideas For Early Investors

SPEAKER_00 13:40

info in real time is you know, you believe what you're sharing is always gonna be true and accurate, and then things change. Sometimes you feel penalized because you kind of jump the gun to share something, but I'd rather be out in front and sharing even a little ahead of you know um certainty because that's what the company I want to invest in. I don't want to find something out negative or even positive after everybody else knows. I feel like as an owner or a shareholder, you should be right there. So that's our promise. You guys know us, love you guys. I don't want to linger on here and get sappy, but you're gonna start crying. Yeah, you got a Kleenex over there. So anyway, a lot of fun. Yeah, Kyle, thank you too.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Good sidekick. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

We're having a lot of fun. We are so yeah, that's all we can say. Just stay close to your social media, um, stay close to our announcements, and we are gonna keep you as informed as humanly possible.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

That's right. Thanks, guys. See you soon. See you in New York. Peace out.