As the need increases for electric vehicle parts for commercial vehicles, a Colorado startup has announced a major influx of capital to rapidly expand its operations.
Loveland's Lightning Systems raised $41 million in equity, debt and working capital line funding from existing and new investors. The round was led by BP Ventures, with participation from new investor Cupola Infrastructure Income Fund, a private equity fund focused on sustainability and infrastructure opportunities.
Lightning Systems designs and manufacturers zero-emission, all-electric powertrains for commercial fleets – from Class 3 Ford Transit vans to Class 6 work trucks and Class 7 and 8 city buses. There are eight classes of commercial motor vehicles in the U.S., based on the weight of the truck.
The company will use the funding to support inventory purchases as it has a backlog for electric powertrains for Ford Transits, Ford E-450s, Ford F-59 step vans, Chevrolet Low Cab Forward 6500XD trucks and Lightning Electric city buses.
In order to fulfill its orders, Lightning will triple its production and office space, now boasting more than 100,000 square feet of space. The capital will also be used as Lightning grows its staff moving forward, with 15 hires planned in the next 90 days.
"The company currently has about 50 employees, and will be growing to 65 over the next 90 days, and expects to be at 80 employees by (the end of 2020)," Lightning Systems CEO Tim Reeser told Colorado Inno.
While Reeser said hiring local Colorado talent has sometimes been a struggle, he's optimistic on the company's plans for growth.
"Colorado has an excellent base of technical talent from the engineering schools in the Front Range," Reeser said. "But Colorado does not have a large pool of experienced automotive talent. Thankfully Colorado is an attractive place to move to for many engineers and technicians from the Midwest and West Coast."
The company moved into the former Hewlett-Packard facility at the Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation & Technology in Loveland in 2017, where it will continue to expand its operations.
David Hayes, chief investment officer at BP Ventures, said in a statement: "The global electric vehicle market is growing at an unprecedented rate, and we are seeing the electrification of more and more commercial fleets. We believe in Lightning's ability to quickly scale its zero-emission powertrain business."
BP Ventures was set up more than a decade ago to identify and invest in private, high growth technology companies, accelerating innovation across the energy spectrum. Since then, BP has invested more than $500 million in technology companies across more than 50 entities with more than 300 co-investors.
Prior to this round, Lightning had raised about $23 million in outside funding.
