Electric bus company Proterra closes $23M Series B investment

21 November 2012

Proterra Inc, the developer of a battery-electric fast-charge transit bus, the EcoRide, has closed a $23 million Series B financing round amid rising demand for its transit solutions. Proterra has tripled orders under contract for the EcoRide from public transit agencies in the past twelve months and is planning for its current growth path to continue.

The round was led by new investor, Hennessey Capital, who joined additional outside investor NMT Capital as well as existing investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GM Ventures, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Inc., 88 Green Ventures and Vision Ridge Partners. In conjunction with the investment closing, Rajiv Ghatalia, President and Founder of Hennessey Capital Management LLC, will join Proterra’s Board as an advisor.

This investment round is intended to accelerate EcoRide bus deployment to new US transit customers, open new markets and spur next generation system offerings, Proterra said.

Proterra has grown from two to seven major transit agency customers. Earlier this year, EcoRide became the first heavy-duty electric transit bus to complete federally required durability and reliability testing at the Bus Research and Testing Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, demonstrating best in class energy efficiency and noise levels.