General Motors’ venture capital arm, GM Ventures, has invested for a second time in Proterra Inc. and its battery-powered buses. Proterra is based in Greenville, S.C., and offers a pure battery electric, fast-charge bus, and will use the GM Ventures investment to increase delivery of its EcoRide buses to new customers and markets. The EcoRide is able to complete a fast charge in 10 minutes and has up to 40 miles of driving range per charge. The company says that it’s serving seven transit authority customers during a time when several municipalities and related agencies are adding more alternative fuel vehicles to their fleets.
GM Ventures is one of six companies to invest a total of $23 million in a new round of financing for Proterra. In 2011, Proterra received an additional $6 million in investment from GM Ventures. That became part of $30 million Proterra raised at that time. For the current round, other investors include Hennessey Capital Management LLC, NMT Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment Inc., 88 Green Ventures and Vision Ridge Partners. For GM Ventures, Proterra fits in well with its overall investment strategy of finding investment opportunities in advanced vehicle technologies. GM Ventures is also investing in connected-vehicle devices, advanced materials for weight savings, and sensors, processors and memory that could aid autonomous driving.
