Electric snowmobile and jet ski maker Taiga goes public and raises $100 million

Electric snowmobile and watercraft maker Taiga is going public through a SPAC deal, and it is raising $100 million in the process.

They are also starting to take pre-orders.

Taiga Motors

We have been following Taiga Motors, a Montreal-based startup, for years now.

In 2015, the company spun out of McGill’s racing team where the three cofounders, Paul Achard, Gabriel Bernatchez, and Sam Bruneau, worked on electric powertrains during their engineering studies at the university. They have been focused on developing a lineup of electric snowmobiles.

We tried their first prototype in 2018, and they unveiled their production lineup in 2019.

Later, they leveraged their development of electric snowmobiles to build an electric watercraft: The Taiga Orca.

The company’s mission is to electrify the power-sports industry by building all-electric vehicles that outperform fossil fuel-powered counterparts while not being detrimental to the environment they are made to enjoy.

Taiga goes public with CGGZ

Now Taiga is raising money and going public through a SPAC deal, which is popular with EV startups lately, in order to ramp up production:

Canaccord Genuity Growth II Corp. (TSX: CGGZ.UN) (NEO: CGGZ.UN) (“CGGZ” or the “Corporation”), a special purpose acquisition company, and Taiga Motors Inc. are pleased to announce the proposed merger transaction (the “Merger”) between the Corporation and Taiga. The Merger will constitute the Corporation’s qualifying acquisition.

They are raising $100 million in the process.

Taiga Motors cofounder and CEO Sam Bruneau commented on today’s announcement:

Taiga’s mission is to revolutionize the powersports industry with all-electric, off-road vehicles that outperform peers without sacrificing the environment. We are a product first company that believes a mass market shift towards electrification in powersports can only be achieved by building electric vehicles offering superior performance at a competitive price when compared to class leading combustion alternatives. With the funds from this transaction, we plan to accelerate our existing production capabilities and execute on our pre-orders while moving full speed ahead with plans for a second, mass-production facility, which will significantly increase our capacity by 2025. As the only mass-production-ready electric powersport vehicle manufacturer, we will continue to push technological boundaries with an aim to offer class leading vehicles in this segment and capitalize on the rise in consumer interest in electric vehicles and related technologies.

The company has been rumored to be planning to build a 50,000-unit-per-year factory in Shawinigan, Quebec.

Taiga is also taking reservations with $500 deposits for its snowmobiles and watercrafts starting at $15,000 USD for deliveries in the fall of 2021.

The company’s electric snowmobile can do 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 2.9 seconds – something unheard of in a production snowmobile, and it can travel 140 km on a single charge.