A San Francisco startup developing a fully electric towable RV trailer just raised $23 million in a series A round led by Prelude Ventures.
Obvious Ventures, Congruent Ventures, My Climate Journey, HyperGuap, and Alumni Ventures also participated.
Lightship was founded by two former Tesla employees, Ben Parker and Toby Kraus, who worked on the Model 3 and Model S respectively.
The company was originally founded to create a fully electric food truck after Parker witnessed firsthand the uncomfortable amount of exhaust generated by the food trucks serving Tesla employees at the company's office in Palo Alto.
Lightship eventually pivoted to towable RVs after realizing the market was larger, more lucrative and more conducive to electrification.
"An electric towable is essentially replacing everything inside the RV with all electric. If you've ever been in an RV, traditionally you have a series of fossil-fuel based systems — a generator running on gasoline or propane, powering all the electric appliances, even the refrigerators, which is bananas," said Kraus, who serves as the company's COO. "So replacing all of that with just a single battery adds a lot of value."
He says the battery will also power a propulsion system for the trailer so that it does not eat up additional fuel for the car towing it. The battery can be charged by EV outlets or traditional plugs found at most RV rest stops.
The company has not yet defined a roadmap for unveiling its prototype or launching its product, but plans to release more concrete details over the next few months.
Lightship employs 20 people and plans to double its staff with the new funding and is looking for engineers in the EV field, of which there are more than a few looking for work currently after the recent layoffs at Tesla and Rivian.
The firm recently moved from a small garage in the Mission District to a larger space in Potrero Hill.
