Tesla Motors raises $45M more
Tesla Motors, the San Carlos, Calif. maker of a high-performance electric car, has raised $45 million more in financing.
The new backing for the car, due out later this year, is led by Technology Partners, a Palo Alto venture firm that has focused on green investments, and Tesla’s own chairman, Elon Musk. Also investing are Palo Alto’s Capricorn Investment Group, a private investment firm, and major existing investors. Two investors we haven’t mentioned previously are Valor Equity Partners, of Chicago, and Compass Venture Partners (larger list of investors here).
See Tesla’s full announcement here:
This is the fourth round of financing, and brings the company’s total to $105 million.
The company said it has received more than 400 deposits for its Roadster, which will go from zero to 60 mph in about four seconds, and cost $90,000. The additional financing will be used to develop its WhiteStar, a four-door, five passenger sports sedan planned for 2009 and costing $50,000 to $65,000.
Among those making deposits so far are Tesla backers Larry Page and Sergey Brin (co-founders of Google). Others include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor George Clooney.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
