US-based electric bus manufacturer Proterra secured $15m in funding from venture debt provider the Silicon Valley Bank, a subsidiary of the SVB financial group, on Tuesday, and is planning to use the cash to finance increased production.
Proterra raised $30m in June from a pool of investors including General Motors’ corporate venturing unit GM Ventures, Japan-based conglomerate Mitsui’s corporate venturing division Mitsui Ventures, and venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, 88 Green Ventures and Vision Ridge Partners.
Prior to that, Proterra’s main investor was MK Energy and Infrastructure, a division of the diversified financial services firm the Michael Kenwood Group, which invested $20m. The investment was part of a $41m round of debt and equity funding raised by Proterra in May 2010.
As well as receiving financing from SVB, Proterra is also working with the group’s asset management and analytics teams, and is using its CapMx software to manage its capitalisation tables. Proterra’s EcoRide bus is the first fully sized bus capable of charging in less than ten minutes.