Einride announces $500M for autonomous, electric vehicle development

FreightTech startup Einride announced Wednesday it had raised $500 million in financing through a combination of a Series C equity raise and a debt facility.

The Sweden-based company raised $200 million in the Series C with the Swedish pension fund AMF, EQT Ventures, Northzone, Polar Structure, Norrsken VC and Temasek, among others participating in the round. In addition, Einride said it secured a $300 million debt facility led by Barclays Europe.

“The time is now to act on not only developing but accelerating the implementation of technology that will create a cleaner, safer and more efficient way to move goods,” said Robert Falck, founder and CEO at Einride. “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.” 

The debt facility includes an initial rollout of $150 million in January, the company said, and will be used to support the growing Einride fleet in the U.S. and Europe and for future planned expansions. Einride is currently operational in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway.

“This landmark debt facility represents a key milestone in the financing of heavy-duty electric vehicles,” said Gordon Beck, director of securitized products solutions at Barclays. “The innovative asset-backed structure complements Einride’s unique ecosystem offering and is a continued demonstration of how Barclays is using our financial and capital markets expertise to support clients in driving the transition to net-zero.”

The equity raise includes $90 million in a convertible note that had previously been announced.

In November, Einride announced a charging network in the U.S., starting with a station near the Port of Los Angeles.

The first Einride Station, which includes electric truck charging capability as well as a maintenance center and lounge area for drivers, will be placed near the Port of Los Angeles to support Einride customer A.P. Møller – Maersk (OCTUS: AMKBY). It is scheduled to open in 2023 and will eventually be opened to non-Einride customers. A single Einride Station can support up to 200 vehicles.

Einride Stations are already operational in Sweden.

Einride first inked a deal with Maersk in March. Under terms of the agreement, Maersk will deploy 300 Einride Class 8 electric trucks (E-trucks) over five years, with the first delivery taking place in 2023. Maersk will use the vehicles in its North American warehousing, distribution and transportation business. The companies estimate the vehicles will move more than 1 million shipments during the life of the contract.

The company also offers the Einride Saga, a technology platform that provides users the ability to generate and view operational key performance indicators, register and track progress to emission targets and get actionable operational insights for all shipping touch points, using data from across the user’s ecosystem.

Earlier this year, Einride announced that GE Appliances (GEA) is deploying six electric trucks at three locations as part of the first phase of an electric vehicle trial. GEA is using the trucks in Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, with plans to add six more EV trucks.

The EVs will drive routes between facilities operated by the Port of Savannah in Georgia and GEA’s inbound warehousing and logistics centers, manufacturing sites and finished-goods warehouses. With a range of about 200 miles, GEA anticipates each truck will travel an estimated 125,000 miles annually, reducing 210 tons of CO2 emissions in the first year alone.

Einride opened its North American operations in November 2021, announcing headquarters in New York City and a pilot of its Einride Pod, a cabless box on wheels that can move product autonomously from point to point. Einride is now working with global companies Ericsson, Electrolux and Siemens as well as customers Oatly, Bridgestone and GE Appliances.

It completed a pilot of its autonomous vehicle on U.S. roadways in October.

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Editor: Brian Straight