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Funded: Mission Motors Closes $9 Million Series B Financing Round Lead by Warburg Pincus

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News comes to us from across the Bay this morning, as Mission Motors has announced that it has closed a $9 million Series B financing round led by Warbug Pincus. A global private equity firm with $30 billion in assets under management, Warbug Pincus invested $7.5 million in Mission Motors (with room up to an additional $41 million), while Infield Capital, one of Mission’s original investors, doubled-dipped back into the company, presumably with the remaining $1.5 million for the series.

The use of funds will go towards Mission Motors’s continued venture of supplying OEM customers with electric and hybrid drive train solutions — an exclusive endeavor the company has been undertaking for over a year now, but apparently something the less-informed motorcycle press is only now taking notice of today.

“We are proud to have a firm as respected as Warburg Pincus leading our Series B round,” said Jit Bhattacharya CEO of Mission Motors. “With this funding, we plan to grow our powertrain technology business by becoming a reliable production supplier to our OEM customers. The financing adds to what has already been a big year for our company. With the backing of Warburg Pincus, we will be able to build on our recent accomplishments, taking the powertrain technology that we have developed and integrating it into high-volume production vehicles.”

With today’s Series B announcement, Mission Motors brings its total war chest of funds raised to $15 million. The company already has firms like Honda on its list of OEM partnerships, and we’ve heard some rumblings of more than a few motorcycle manufacturers stopping by the San Francisco company’s office to explore putting electric drives into their motorcycles. While the majority of the company’s work has been on four wheels, Mission has been proving its technology on two wheels, most recently with its Mission R superbike.

Lapping around Laguna Seca during the US GP, rider Steve Rapp took the Mission R race bike to AMA Pro Racing Supersport lap times, showing the company’s strides towards gasoline performance parity.

Today’s news is not only a boon for the Mission team (you’re inviting your favorite motorcycle blog to celebrate in the City tonight, right?), but a win for electrics as a whole, as it shows investors are still eager to invest in this space. Congrats again to the Mission Motors team.

Source: Mission Motors; Title Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones Photography / Mission Motors – All Rights Reserved

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