We’ve raised nearly $700M from backers like Bezos for US-built EVs
Electric vehicle startup Slate announced that the company isn’t done raising funds. Slate, which counts backers like Jeff Bezos and Guggenheim’s Mark Walter as investors, has closed out its Series A and Series B funding and is now looking at a Series C. Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the company had reportedly raised around $110 million.
“We’ve gone through a couple rounds of funding,” Slate CEO Chris Barman said to Yahoo Finance. “So Jeff Bezos was our lead in our first round, the Walter Group in our second round. We also have General Catalyst as an investor. And we’ve raised nearly $700 million.”
That whopping figure hadn’t been reported before. But when it comes to building an auto business from scratch, it’s possible billions will be needed.
But with no stamping operation needed (the company will use pre-fabricated composite parts for the body) nor a paint shop (all the composite parts are already slate gray), Barman believes it can accomplish its goals with less capital.
The company announced it would house its assembly facility at the former LSC Communications printing plant in Warsaw, Ind., and aims to reach its 150,000-unit run rate by late 2027. Slate has said cars will be on the road starting in late 2026.
Slate said it will be cash flow positive shortly after production, a tough ask when competitors like Rivian (RIVN) and Lucid (LCID) are barely gross profit positive.
Building in America means tariffs won’t be an issue, and the company believes it can keep its supply chain in the US as well.
“We were very focused through the process that we wanted to also source American parts,” Barman said. “So we have a high number of US-sourced parts within the vehicle, so we’ll be very insulated against that.”
Slate said previously that its EV pickup, a bare-bones truck with a footprint smaller than a Ford (F) Maverick, will cost somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range and will come in only one color, slate gray.
The EV offers two options on the choice of two battery sizes for the rear-wheel-drive truck: a 52.7-kWh battery pack targeting 150 miles of range and an 84.3-kWh pack with 240 miles of range.
Slate’s other appeal is to DIYers, who can add a massive number of custom parts, vinyl skins, and even a roof to make it an SUV and install them on their own.
Buyers can also choose to do none of these things and have a cheap, utilitarian pickup.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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