Toronto-based startup eLeapPower has secured $21 million CAD in Series A financing to fuel the commercialization of its electric vehicle (EV) tech.
The cleantech firm’s all-equity Series A round, which closed in September, was eLeapPower’s first institutional capital raise. The round was led by BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice and a consortium of pension funds, including the pension trust funds for the Electrical Industry of Ottawa and Quinte St. Lawrence Electrical Workers.
“As the global automotive industry ramps up for an electric future, we have completely reimagined the electric vehicle powertrain.”
-Russell Pullan, eLeapPower
Ahead of a looming EV boom predicted to hit by 2030, eLeapPower has positioned itself to address some of the industry’s biggest pain points—range, charging speed, and manufacturing cost.
“As the global automotive industry ramps up for an electric future, we have completely reimagined the electric vehicle powertrain,” said Russell Pullan, eLeapPower’s CEO. “eLeapPower’s innovative design allows vehicles to go farther and charge faster, with significant cost savings for vehicle manufacturers.”
Pullan added that, “unlike existing technologies, eLeapPower is a new system to allow direct charging from renewable energy—enabling electric vehicles to be truly green.”
Founded in 2016, eLeapPower aims to make EVs more accessible and accelerate their adoption for commercial use through its suite of patented electric vehicle (EV) technologies.
According to the startup, its powertrain solution optimizes EV battery performance, reduces charging time, and works across manufacturers, vehicle types, motors, and batteries. eLeapPower’s technology eliminates the need for on-board chargers and leads to lower manufacturing costs.
“eLeapPower’s smart inverter technology will accelerate the transition to electric vehicles by addressing range anxiety and simultaneously reducing the cost of the vehicle and charging infrastructure,” said Zoltan Tompa, managing director of BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice. “We are pleased to support the commercialization of this key enabling technology and eLeapPower’s international expansion.”
The Toronto-based company is just one of a growing number of Canadian cleantech startups that have popped up to address some of the challenges faced by the EV sector. The list includes companies like Mangrove Lithium, Moment Energy, and FTEX.
With its latest round, eLeapPower has raised a total of $32.6 million CAD to date, including non-dilutive funding in the form of government grants and awards.
eLeapPower plans to use the fresh capital to accelerate its production and global growth. The startup has inked an initial contract with an undisclosed global automotive manufacturer based in China, which plans to use eLeapPower’s smart inverter technology to drive its line of commercial EVs.
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“This commercial raise is being used to speed up our route to market, quite literally—to help us get to tens of thousands of our units on the road as quickly as possible,” Pullan told BetaKit.
The startup has already used some of the proceeds from its Series A round to open an engineering centre in Shenzhen, China as it looks to meet the needs of these customers.
eLeapPower has focused its initial efforts on small commercial vehicles, but Pullan said the startup also intends to expand its discussions with other vehicle manufacturers in the hopes of introducing its tech to buses, trucks, pickup trucks, and passenger vehicles.
UPDATE (12/14/21): This story was updated to include responses from Russell Pullan.
Feature image of eLeapPower founder and CTO Tony Han and CEO Russell Pullan, courtesy of eLeapPower