Using strictly the Charlie Sheen sense of the word, Zero Motorcycles is WINNING right now. Announcing today that it closed another round of financing, Zero has $17 million of a $26 million round confirmed ($9 million still outstanding). The funding continues to be lead by the Invus investment group, who have been the major financial backbone at Zero Motorcycles. A funding round of that size can only mean one thing for a motorcycle company: going into mass production. Surely enough Zero states its intended use of the funds will go towards ramping up its US-based production plans.
Out of all the electric motorcycle vehicle players, Zero has been the most active in the funding department lately, closing round after round of capital investment. With those investments we’ve already seen changes at the Santa Cruz company, with the 2011 Zero Motorcycles line-up featuring upgrade motorcycles, as well as founder Neal Saiki departing the company.
“With this investment, we will continue to ramp up our US-based production while rapidly expanding our global sales footprint, ” said Zero Motorcycles CEO Gene Banman. “Our new 2011 lineup of California-designed and assembled electric motorcycles has been very well received by the market and press, and we intend to further accelerate growth and enhance our leadership position.”
“We are continuing to commit significant R&D resources to our electric drivetrain technology, and are building the leading supply chain in the industry through our own efforts and our partnering with world-class suppliers. The company has the strong financial footing it needs to expand the business and move the state of electric motorcycle development rapidly forward.”
A Form D filing has yet to materialize on the SEC’s website about this investment, so it’ll be interesting to see whose names are included on the document. Be wary of reports of a $26 million investment made by other publications.
Source: Zero Motorcycles
Comments