Better Place secures $200 million in new financing

Electric vehicle infrastructure developer Better Place has secured $200 million in Series C financing, which it says it will use to expand its efforts in Western Europe.

The company now counts GE and UBS AG among its investors, which also include HSBC Group, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Ofer Group and Maniv Energy Capital.

Since its founding in 2007, Better Place has raised more than $750 million of equity financing and doubled its company valuation to $2.25 billion since the last valuation in 2010.

The company plans to launch its initial commercial services for electric cars in Israel and Denmark in early 2012, followed by Canberra in Australia later in the year, and is working on projects in Northern California, Southern China, Japan, Ontario, Canada and Hawaii.

“We are entering the next phase of growth for our company where we prove that our solution works, that it’s in demand, and that it scales, as we begin to push into new markets and attract new investors and new partners,” says founder and CEO Shai Agassi.

One of those key markets will be the rest of Europe beyond Denmark, where it is ready to launch a pilot battery swap service for drivers of Renault’s Fluence ZE electric car.

Better Place says it has already received over 1000 pre-orders from private and business customers in Denmark, but has had more success in Israel where over 400 corporations, which could represent up to 80,000 vehicles, have expressed their intent to start switching to electric vehicles supported as they become available.

For further information:
www.betterplace.com

15 November 2011

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