Montréal-based Seven Generation Capital (7Gen) has secured $48 million CAD in senior secured debt from Zenobē to scale its commercial electric vehicle (EV) platform across Canada.
Founded in 2020, 7Gen helps businesses electrify their vehicle fleets, providing an EV-as-a-service platform that includes EV leasing, infrastructure deployment, and supporting software. The startup plans to use the funds to finance 400 to 500 new electric vans, buses, and trucks bundled with charging infrastructure, and refinance a portion of its current fleet.
7Gen argues this funding recognizes commercial EV fleets as “scalable and financeable.”
“7Gen finds itself at an inflection point,” 7Gen CEO Frans Tjallingii told BetaKit. “EV adoption is increasing and our market reach is as well. This combination plus our value added services puts us in a good position to scale up our deployment of capital.”
Founded in 2020, 7Gen aims to simplify the procurement and deployment of EVs by delivering EV leasing, infrastructure, and software solutions to school bus operators, small and medium-sized businesses, and large corporations across North America via one monthly bill. The 25-person company’s clients include DHL, FedEx, Fresh Prep, GoBolt, and Staples, and it counts Fonds de solidarité FTQ (Fonds FTQ), Siemens Financial Services, and Spring Lane Capital among its backers.
Previously based in Vancouver, 7Gen moved its headquarters to Montréal. Tjallingii noted that the company already had Fonds FTQ on its cap table and has since brought on Investissement Québec with the prerequisite that it become headquartered in Québec, which he said fits well with its business strategy, since Québec is 7Gen’s most important market.
7Gen claimed this Zenobē deal is the largest private EV debt financing in Canadian history, and argued that it represents recognition that commercial EV fleets are “a scalable and financeable asset class.”
“In the early days EV and especially charging infrastructure would have to be financed with project equity instruments,” Tjallingii said. “Having senior debt available for this asset class brings it into a new phase recognizing an overall decrease in the risk profile. [Original equipment manufacturers] are more mature and charging infrastructure more robust. 7Gen aims to be at the forefront of this trend.”
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Zenobē, which is based in the United Kingdom (UK), is an EV fleet and grid-scale battery storage specialist that helps finance the deployment of EVs. Today, the company supports over 2,000 EVs in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
7Gen marks Zenobē’s first investment in Canada. In a statement, Zenobē co-founder and director Steven Meersman said the firm has decided to bring its EV funding approach to Canada thanks in part to the momentum behind decarbonization that exists in the country.
Meersman cited Canada’s supportive government policies and supply of clean, affordable power as factors that will help ensure a lower cost of ownership for zero-emissions vehicles.
“We look forward to sharing our global experience electrifying over 120 depots to benefit 7Gen, its fleet customers, and the wider electric fleet market in Canada,” Meersman added.
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Tjallingii claimed that 7Gen more than doubled the size of its business in 2024 despite capital constraints. In February, 7Gen acquired San Francisco-based EnergizedAI, which applies artificial intelligence to decrease operating costs and improve the uptime of EV chargers, for an undisclosed sum. He expects this funding from Zenobē to further accelerate 7Gen’s growth.
7Gen, which closed an $8-million Series A in mid-2022, is also currently preparing to raise a larger Series B round during the second half of 2025.
Tjallingii acknowledged that the global trade war and the associated uncertainty it has caused have made businesses “more prudent in their investments.” But he claimed the EVs 7Gen provides are generally compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and not expected to fall under US tariffs.
Despite these headwinds, he argued that the business case for shifting to EVs remains strong in most of the jurisdictions 7Gen serves thanks in part to existing incentives.
Feature image courtesy 7Gen.