"Now, investors want in on that same bet: Telo announced Tuesday it has closed a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was co-led by designer Yves Béhar and Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning (who are also Telo co-founders), with additional investment from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, and early stage funds like TO VC, E12 Ventures, and Neo."
"In the world of automotive manufacturing, $20 million does not go very far. To contrast, Slate Auto, which is building its own wild take on a small electric pickup truck, has raised more than $700 million, to date. Startups like Fisker Inc., Canoo, and Lordstown Motors also raised hundreds of millions before they all collapsed."
""Our hyper-focus is on trucks for the downtowns of cities," co-founder and CEO Jason Marks told TechCrunch on a video call while bouncing around Telo's 10,000-square-foot San Carlos facility - which shares a backyard with the original Tesla headquarters."
Telo, founded in 2022, designed the MT1, a bite-sized electric truck with a starting price around $41,000 aimed at urban drivers. The company closed a $20 million Series A co-led by Yves Béhar and Marc Tarpenning, with additional investment from Marc Benioff and several venture funds. Telo operates a 10,000-square-foot facility in San Carlos near Tesla's original headquarters and claims roughly 12,000 pre-orders. The company targets downtown urban use rather than mass-market pickup buyers and plans modest production goals. The $20 million raise is modest compared with other EV startups that secured hundreds of millions before failing.
Read at TechCrunch
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