Boosted just raised $60M to make new ‘vehicle-grade’ light EVs

Mountain View-based light electric vehicle company Boosted just announced today that they have raised $60M in Series B financing. The company intends to use the funding to develop and produce new types of personal electric vehicles designed to be even more rugged and robust.

The $60M round of financing was led by Khosla Ventures and iNovia Capital. It also including Boosted’s original Series A investors Stanford-Start X and Bay Meadows.

Boosted’s growth in light electric vehicles

If you aren’t familiar with Boosted, then consider them as something like the Apple of electric skateboards. They made a name for themselves early on in the market when they released their first Boosted Boards in 2012. They’ve since become the brand to imitate and have led the industry in design and quality.

The company has been expanding at an astounding rate too, showing 10 fold growth in the last two years alone.

Boosted’s electric skateboards have also won worldwide acclaim. Their Boosted Mini was even recognized by Time Magazine as one of the Top Inventions of 2018.

We’ve personally reviewed their flagship board here on Electrek, the Boosted Stealth. Having personally ridden it for weeks, I can confirm: Boosted’s quality is class-leading.

Boosted has big plans for their big funding

$60M is a lot of cash for R&D of little vehicles. While Boosted hasn’t come right out and said what they will be making next, they have dropped some hints.

According to Boosted’s CEO Jeff Russakow (and emphasis added by me):

Today’s generation is quickly adopting light electric vehicles as a superior way to commute, saving both time and money over existing options while enjoying the ride. However, the majority of lightweight vehicles on the street today are leisure-grade or toy-grade products, when riders need vehicle-grade products that provide exceptional acceleration and braking performance, safety, durability, and superior design. Boosted has been perfecting street-quality technologies for the electric skateboard market for years where the vehicles must be incredibly high performance and durable, and only regenerative braking is even an option! Once we install our unique powertrain technology into other light vehicle types, they become Boosted-quality vehicles overnight versus what is out there today.”

The company appears set on introducing higher grade light electric vehicles designed for constant use and abuse. And considering that over 82% of Boosted’s customers report that they use their Boosted products for commuting, that direction certainly makes sense for the company.

In fact, it follows a similar trend in the industry towards ruggedizing light electric vehicles. Lime, Bird and other electric scooter and e-bike sharing companies famously rushed out rentable electric scooters built on consumer hardware. It should come as no surprise that those consumer-level scooters began falling apart when subjected to commercial use.

Bird announced that they were developing new industrial-level scooters to solve the problem. Lime then followed suit with their own custom commercial-grade scooter. Just yesterday, Jump also announced their new ruggedized e-bike.

Electrek’s Take

Considering that Boosted is already known as a quality leader in the industry, their focus on improved vehicle design makes me think they are headed in a new direction. Not that they are leaving e-skateboards, but I assume that they are heading towards electric scooters as well.

I don’t have any insider knowledge and this is purely speculation, but I think it is a safe bet. They could be looking at e-bikes or even e-mopeds, but scooters seem like a quicker jump from skateboards.

These days everyone from ride-sharing companies to car companies are getting in on electric scooters. Competitor Inboard already unveiled their new electric scooter and Boosted surely doesn’t want to be left out.

With Boosted’s custom developed hardware and software, the company would have a significant head start. And if they can bring their high-end craftsmanship and performance to the electric scooter industry, then you know the result is going to be some seriously hardcore products.