Proterra and BYD are clear leaders in the realm of electric buses. Proterra, based in California, has made another stop along that route, with $55 million raised through a strategic financing investment round.
“This signals a new growth phase for the company, as Proterra scales production to meet growing demand and accelerates cash realization,” the company writes.
“Proterra has closed a $30 million Series 4 equity round led by $19 million from several new strategic investors. The existing major investors in Proterra added $11 million of equity.”
Looking good. It’s nice to see both an influx of new investors as well as an infusion of a considerable amount more from previous investors, signs that the company is… worth investing in.
“Increasingly Proterra’s products and technology are earning industry credibility as fleet customers place second, third, and fourth orders for Proterra’s zero emission transit vehicles,” said Michael Linse, a partner at KPCB and Proterra board member.
Proterra has also completed debt financing for $25 million with Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. “The strategic debt financing will provide long-term debt capital to fully fund Proterra’s new Advanced Manufacturing facility in California, which was recently awarded a California Energy Commission grant to support clean vehicle technology growth. In addition, the Hercules debt facility expands Proterra’s access to working capital, a critical component of growth financing as production volume increases.”
Perhaps a bit dry — unless you’re into investment news — but these are strong signs for Proterra as well as the electric bus market in general.
By simultaneously securing a strategic debt facility and a large growth equity financing, Proterra will finish the second quarter of 2015 fully funded to expand into the West Coast markets through its new California manufacturing center, ramp production to meet growing demand, and continue to invest heavily in future generations of EV transit technology. “This is a pivotal time for Proterra as we launch the latest generation of our technology and double our production capacity,” said Ryan Popple, Proterra CEO.
“We’re appreciative to have such strong investor interest and confident in the company’s ability to deliver strong results for all. Our new and existing investors are supportive of both our need to increase capacity as well as continue to lead the market in steadily improving and perfecting EV technology for transit. These financings are a powerful source of growth capital and will accelerate the adoption of EV technology in transit.”