Jeff Bezos-backed electric vehicle startup Slate Auto has raised another $650 million as the company prepares to put its first affordable pickup trucks into production by the end of 2026.
The automotive industry he said on Monday that the Series C funding round was led by TWG Global, a firm led by Guggenheim Partners managing director (and Los Angeles Dodgers owner) Mark Walter and investor Thomas Tull. Slate Auto’s press release thanked the “visionary investors,” but the company did not name others involved in the fundraising.
The new round means Slate Auto has raised about $1.4 billion to date. Previous investors include General Catalyst, Jeff Bezos’ family office, VC firm Slauson & Co. and former Amazon executive Diego Piacentini, as TechCrunch first reported last year.
The company is also loaded with Amazon DNA. In addition to its investors, it was co-founded by former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke. The heads of Slate’s mobility, user/user experience, e-commerce, fleet sales and HR teams used to work at Amazon. And, the company recently installed former Amazon Marketplace VP Peter Faricy as CEO. (Former CEO and Chrysler veteran Chris Barman has moved into a new role as “Vehicle President”.)
Slate Auto’s C Series comes at a tumultuous time for the electric vehicle market in the United States. Major automakers are withdrawing plans to launch electric vehicles here, especially after losing a $7,500 federal tax credit last year. Tesla’s overall sales have declined for two consecutive years. New entrants like Rivian and Lucid Motors have struggled to reach scale, though both of those companies are launching new, more affordable models this year.
Founded in 2022, Slate Auto takes a different approach than any other automaker. The company is targeting the ultra-low end of the market with a bare-bones electric truck expected to start in the mid-$20,000s. Customers will be able to customize the truck in a number of ways for more money, including adding an SUV conversion kit for about $5,000.
The company originally planned to price the truck around $27,000, and shortly after it came out of stealth in 2025 it was promoting a starting price of “under $20,000” with the federal tax credit applied. Final pricing is now coming in June, according to the company.
Slate Auto has garnered quite a bit of interest even with the loss of the federal tax credit. The company has amassed more than 160,000 refundable reservations for its EV. The company recently said it tapped Faricy as its new CEO in part to work on converting those bookings into paid orders. Slate is also spending several hundred million dollars renovating a former printing plant in Indiana, where it plans to build the EVs.
