Intramotev, a St. Louis-based company developing what it describes as a self-propelled, battery-powered railcar, has raised $14 million from investors as it plans to grow its staff in preparation for making several new deployments of its technology globally.
The company said Wednesday that it closed the oversubscribed, Series A funding round, which was led by Flybridge Capital Partners and Alpaca VC, both New York-based, early-stage investment firms. Other investors in the round included Clayton-based Advantage Capital; Singapore-based Aera VC; Band Venture Partners of Calgary, Alberta; San Francisco-based Cantos, a previous investor; Cathcart Rail of Columbus, Ohio; New York-based Collide Capital; Decisive Point, based in New York; and Idealab Arizona in Phoenix.
In addition to Cantos, Intramotev previously has been backed by investors including IdeaLabX and IdeaLab NY. Locally, Intramotev received a $50,000 grant from nonprofit Arch Grants in 2021.
Intramotev, founded in 2020, developed an autonomous, zero-emissions railcar, called the TugVolt, that it says can operate without the use of a locomotive, which speeds up deliveries by rail. The company also is developing other rail-focused autonomous products, including ReVolt, a system that regenerates energy from braking in traditional trains, as well as automated gates and hatches.
“This funding positions us to continue deploying our technology to customers across the US and abroad to unlock a new era of of growth for the rail industry,” Intramotev CEO Tim Luchini said of the Series A round, in a statement. “We’ve heard from customers again and again that they want freight solutions that don’t compromise on efficiency, speed, or flexibility. TugVolt and ReVolt deliver just that.”
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The new funding will allow Intramotev to expand its staff and increase its presence in St. Louis, where its hoping to add 10 employees, mostly engineers and developers, by the end of the year, a spokesperson said. The company currently has 44 total employees, with 40 based in St. Louis, two in Michigan, one in Colorado and one in Israel, according to the spokesperson.
Intramotev said its retrofitted solutions allow customers to increase their rail capacity, while saving fuel costs and lowering their carbon footprint.
In June 2023, Intramotev finalized an agreement to provide Iron Senergy with three ReVolt railcars. Then in April this year, Intramotev deployed its first ReVolt battery-electric, retrofitted hopper car at Iron Senergy's 17-mile private rail line to transport coal at its Cumberland Mine in western Pennsylvania. The ReVolt is the world’s first self-propelled battery-electric railcar in a traditional freight train, according to Intramotev, and to date it has run more than 5,000 miles at the mine.
Intramotev said Wednesday that a planned deployment of its railcar technology at a mining facility in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan will take place later this year at a calcium mine owned by Carmeuse Americas, a Pittsburgh-based unit of Carmeuse Group, a Belgium-based lime producer.
Intramotev is preparing several new deployments worldwide, but officials said they couldn't yet share details.
Intramotev's headquarters are at 4350 Semple Ave. in North City, a facility that includes private railroad tracks where it can test its railcars. The Semple Avenue property is owned by site is owned by Zelck Creek Properties LLC, whose registered agent is Nicholas Schopp, according to city and state records.
