Telo Trucks has raised $20 million in an oversubscribed Series A round to accelerate production of its MT1 compact electric pickup, a vehicle designed for city use but with the cargo capacity of a full-size truck.
The funding round was led by Telo co-founder Yves Béhar and Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning, with additional backing from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, E12 Ventures, and Nova Threshold.
Unlike many EV challengers that collapsed chasing mass production, Telo is taking a capital-efficient approach, focusing on contract manufacturing and in-house battery, design, and safety engineering.
Founded in 2023 and based in San Carlos, California, Telo already has over 12,000 pre-orders from municipalities, construction firms, and delivery companies, representing $600 million in potential revenue.
CEO Jason Marks says the company’s strategy is to achieve profitability at low volumes, similar to Tesla’s early Roadster-era playbook, rather than overextending.
With its compact size, five-passenger capacity, and five-foot truck bed, the MT1 aims to fill a gap in the EV market while avoiding the pitfalls that doomed past electric truck startups.
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