While the news had largely leaked out already, we now know a lot more about EV startup Slate, as well as who is behind it and how much cash the company has to play with. It’s a huge number, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his management firm making up a big share of the pot. But when established car companies spend multiple billions developing a new model, Slate’s $700 million bank account feels like a very small figure to help get it from concept to driveway to battle against big-dollar development vehicles like the Ford Maverick.
The $700m figure comes from Newsweek. Late last week, the outlet reported that it was the final number from the Series A and Series B funding rounds that closed in late 2024.
Slate Is Backed By Bezos, Kayak, Cadillac F1 Stakeholders
Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment portfolio company of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, is one of those major funders. Other major investors include General Catalyst, which has a portfolio that includes Airbnb, Grammarly, Kayak, and others, and TWG Global, which has holdings including the LA Dodgers and the new Cadillac Formula 1 Team. We don’t yet know how much each put in, or how shares and control of the upstart automaker are distributed.
The idea behind Slate is to offer an ultra-low-cost electric pickup. The model will be cheap because it won’t come with much of anything in the way of features. Almost everything will be an option or an accessory, and the automaker claims it will help customers to develop and install their own upgrades.
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While developing a low-cost vehicle will lower the cost to the company to get it to production, starting a new car company is still an expensive venture. Lucid Motors has so far brought in more than $3 billion from just one of its major investors as of 2021, and last fall it announced another $1.5 billion in funding from its majority shareholder. Lordstown Motors raised hundreds of millions, and it was not enough to get the automaker from vision to reality.
This May Just Be The Start Of Multiple Investments
Of course, this was just an initial investment from the partners. As seen with examples like Lucid and Tesla, second, third, fourth, and possibly even more rounds of funding can be necessary. Now that the company has officially revealed its first vehicle, there may be another round coming soon.
With Slate’s backers looking to sell shares, an IPO is all but a formality somewhere down the road, whether the company has turned a profit or even gotten a vehicle into production by that point.
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Plus, for an investor like Bezos, this is still pocket change. If he really wants to make the truck a reality, he can probably find another billion or three by rooting around in the couch cushions, or maybe skipping Whole Foods and going with a more frugal grocer for a few weeks. You know, really buckle down and save. He has already secured the site for the company’s first factory, which will be located at a former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana.
Source: Newsweek
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