US-based electric bus producer Proterra, which counts several corporates among its investor base, raised $30m in equity funding and $25m in debt financing on Tuesday.
The equity portion of the round comprised $19m from undisclosed new strategic investors, which according to Greentech Media included a sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East, an unnamed family office and individual investors including Mike Dorsey and Miriam Rivera, as well as an additional $11m from undisclosed existing Proterra backers.
Proterra designs and manufactures electric buses, and has so far sold approximately 100 vehicles to a total of 14 transit agencies across North America. The equity funding will be used to scale production as it looks to keep up with demand.
Hercules Technology Growth Capital provided the $25m in debt, which will expand the company’s working capital and support the advanced manufacturing facility it plans to build in California.
Proterra has now raised approximately $216m since it was founded in 2010, including $38.8m in a June 2014 series D round featuring GM Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of automotive company General Motors, conglomerate Mitsui and Constellation Technology Ventures, which acts as energy company Exelon’s corporate venturing unit.
The series D round also included Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Tao Invest, Vision Ridge Partners, Hennessey Capital, which operates as a subsidiary of Hitachi Capital America, and 88 Green Ventures. GM Ventures and Mitsui have both been investors in the company since its $30m series A round in 2011.
– Photo courtesy of Proterra, Inc.