A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – ELECRTIC VEHICLES
- Romeo Power closed a $30M Seed funding round to develop batteries with at-least 25 percent more energy density. Link
- Gogoro, the Electric Scooter manufacturer has raised $300M in its Series C funding led by Temasek, Generation Investment Management, Sumitomo Corporation, and ENGIE. Link
- Lilium Aviation, a German Flying Car developer has raised $90M in its new round of funding from Tencent, LGT, Atomico and Obvious Ventures. Link
- Rimac Automobili has secured $32.4M in its Series B funding from the Camel Group. Link
- StoreDot, a battery startup, has raised $60M in its third round of funding, led by Daimler’s Trucks division. Link
- Tesla raised $1.8B in its first junk bond offering. Link
- Hyliion, a Class 8 Hybridizing Company raised $21M in Series A Funding Led by Axioma. Link
- Electrovaya completed its second tranche of private placement of its shares to raise $695k. Link
- Bolt Mobility raised $2.8M from its Equity Crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. Link
- UQM Technologies raised $5.1M in its post-IPO fundraising round, from China National Heavy Duty Truck Group through its wholly owned subsidiary, Sinotruk. Link
- GreenPower Motor Company closed the first tranche of private placement of its convertible debentures for $1.5M. Link
- Envoy Technologies has been awarded a grant of $1.5M from the California Energy Commission. Link
- CHJ Automotive, an electric car manufacturer, has raised $15.4M in a funding round from the Leo Group. Link
- Electra Meccanica raised $159k in a post-IPO round as per SEC Filings. Link
- Efficient Drivetrains has raised $2.6M in a financing from an undisclosed investor. Link
- BionX International, developers of Electric drive systems, has received $2.4M grant funding from the Canadian Government. Link
- Zero Motorcycles has raised $2M in its Series B offering as per SEC Filings. Link
- Freewire Technologies is raising its Series A funding being led by Stanley Ventures, a division of Stanley Black & Decker. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
Electric Visionary Aircrafts (2017, Toulouse) – Electric Visionary Aircrafts is an early-stage company focused on developing electric aerial vehicles. The company is working on developing an electric aircraft. The company also aims to setup an electric aerial transportation service to allow people to fly within and across cities. The company plans to create the vehicle and launch the service by 2018.
LEADER BOARD – ELECRTIC VEHICLES
Automaker – Horizontal
Polaris Industries (1954, Medina, IPO) – Designs and manufactures on-road electric/hybrid vehicles, snowmobiles, off-road vehicles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Went Public in September 1987.
FDG Electric Vehicles (1990, Hong Kong, IPO) – Manufactures electric vehicles for passenger and commercial use. Also manufactures battery packs and accessories. Went Public in November 2005.
Automaker – Cars
Tesla (2003, Palo Alto, IPO) – Designs and manufactures electric cars and residential energy storage products. Backed by Google, DFJ, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Compass Technology partners, Capricorn Invest Group, Daimler, Panasonic, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Went Public in July 2010.
Beijing Electric Vehicle (2009, Shanghai, $2.1B) – Beijing Electric Vehicle is a subsidiary of Chinese automaker BAIC. The company focuses on the development of new energy vehicles in China. Backed by China Cinda Asset Management, Beijing Electronic Holdings Limited, Jingxi Venture, Daimler.
Automaker – Commercial Vehicles
Proterra (2004, Greenville, $400M) – Designs and manufactures heavy-duty drive, vehicle control systems and complete transit buses. Backed by KPCB, Hennessey Capital, General Motors Ventures, Constellation Ventures, 88 Green Ventures, Middle East Venture Partners.
Automaker – Scooters
Vmoto (2002, Perth, IPO) – Designs and manufactures two-wheeled electric vehicles. Went Public in February 2002.
Gogoro (2011, Taipei, $480M) – Develops electric scooters and battery swapping infrastructure for electric two-wheelers. Backed by Panasonic, National Development Fund of Taiwan.
Automaker – Motorcycles
Zero Motorcycles (2006, Scotts Valley, $141M) – Designs and manufactures high-performance electric motorcycles. Backed by Invus Group, California Energy Commission.
Automaker – Nontraditional
Segway (1999, Bedford, $102M, Acq.) – Designs and manufactures personal transportation two-wheeled self-balancing electric vehicles. Acquired by Ninebot in April 2015. Backed by KPCB, Intel, Masdar CleanTech Fund.
Charging Solutions – Charging Network
Volta Charging (2010, SF, $24M) – Develops network of free-to-use charging stations at retail locations. Backed by 500 Startups, Riverwood Capital, EPIC Ventures, Three Bridge Venture Partners.
NewMotion (2009, Amsterdam, $18M) – Develops network of electric vehicle charging station across Europe. Backed by Entrepreneurs Fund, Stichting DOEN.
Charging Solutions – Plug-in Charging
ChargePoint (2007, Campbell, $298M) – Provides electric vehicle charging stations and develops network of public charging stations. Backed by KPCB, Braemar Energy Ventures, Voyager Capital, Rho Ventures.
Charging Solutions – Wireless Charging
Evatran (2009, Wytheville, $16M) – Develops wireless electric vehicle charging solutions. Backed by New Richmond Ventures, US DOE, Zhejiang VIE Science & Technology.
Components – Electric Drive Systems
Protean Electric (2009, Troy, $154M) – Develops in-wheel electric drive system for hybrid and electric light-duty vehicles. Backed by Oak Investment Partners, GSR Ventures, Tianjin THSG Corporation.
Components – Batteries
Boston Power (2005, Westborough, $638M) – Develops fast charging Li-ion batteries. Backed by GSR Ventures, Oak Investment Partners, Foundations Asset Management, GGV Capital, Venrock.
Components – Motors
UQM Technologies (1967, Longmont, IPO) – Manufactures electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers for the transportation industry. Backed by US Department of Energy. Went Public in May 1992.
Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
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