Einride, a Swedish freight technology company, announced it had secured $500 million in financing, which should aid in bringing its updated autonomous electric truck to the market as part of its freight mobility ecosystem, as per InsideEVs.
The financing, including a $300 million debt facility and $200 million Series C equity contribution, is currently the largest asset-backed facility in heavy-duty electric transport, according to the company.
The debt facility was led by Barclays Europe. In contrast, the equity funding round included investors such as Swedish pension fund AMF, Polar Structure, EQT Ventures, Temasek, Norrsken VC, and Northzone, among other leading companies.
The equity contribution contained a $90 million convertible note raised earlier in 2022.
The investment to provide funding for Einride’s EV fleet
The Swedish company says the investment would offer transformative funding for its electric vehicle fleet worldwide, as it represents the next step in funding new developments and deployments in its autonomous and digital offerings.
In addition, the money would help the company expand its offerings to clients and new markets and develop an electric and autonomous freight mobility ecosystem.
We’ve created the Einride ecosystem to provide the most resilient and future-proof approach to electrifying freight today. With the support from our investors and shared belief in this mission, we’ll continue to drive disruptive change to global freight at scale.
Robert Falck, Founder and CEO at Einride
In the last 12 months, Einride has announced expansions to some European countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands, and deployed operations for multiple new clients, including Bridgestone, Electrolux, and GE Appliances.
Einride completes autonomous vehicle pilot on US public road
In October, Einride finished a pilot on the US public road with its autonomous vehicle, becoming the first to acquire approval for a vehicle without a safety driver on board.
Einride Gen 2 Rigid Large
Furthermore, in November, the company unveiled the second iteration of its autonomous truck prototype, the Gen 2 Rigid Large. The vehicle provides a larger cargo hold compared to the Gen 1 pod, updated night vision capabilities, optics form sensors, and maximum speed.
Remote Interface, the interface used to operate it remotely, was also upgraded. Einride expects to begin the Gen 2 deployment at consumer sites starting next year.
Similarly to the Gen 1, the Gen 2 Rigid Large doesn’t have a cab or seating area for a human driver. It could be remotely controlled by a human operator with a joystick and other controls while sitting at a desk and looking at large screens presenting live video feeds of the truck’s cameras.
On the other hand, while Einride has produced its initial pod truck prototypes, it plans to contract its manufacturing to others eventually.
