Electric motorcycle company Zero is raising new funding for a little over $120 million, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the filing, Zero has sold around $100 million of the equity round thus far from two undisclosed investors. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that it's raising the money and that it will be used for expansion and to fund new models but declined to offer further specifics.
It's the company's first funding round since it raised $107 million in 2022 from Polaris and India's Hero MotoCorp. At the time, the company said it had "all the necessary resources to continue pushing the boundaries of two-wheeled EV's and electric powertrains." Nearly 20 years old, the company typically refreshes its models every year, though it has been rumored to be working on a mini-bike.
These are trying times for electric motorcycle companies, and Zero's rise comes at a propitious moment. One of the bigger ones, Italy's Energica, went bankrupt this month after laying off 70% of its workforce. Design-forward e-moto startup Cake filed for bankruptcy in February, though it has emerged with a new owner. Smaller players like Fuell and Sondors have also closed up shop.
Meanwhile, electric motorcycle spinoff Livewire from Harley-Davidson continues to lose money on its own bikes. The company said Thursday it lost $22.7 million in the third quarter and sold only 99 electric motorcycles. However, it is making money from sales of its electric balance bikes for kids. Those fetched $3.2 million in Q3 versus just $1.2 million from motorcycles.