Breaking: Fisker Adds $189 Million to Growing Capital Base With New Funding
By John O'Dell May 28, 2010
Fisker Automotive welcomed the long Memorial Day weekend with word late this evening that it has just closed a $189 million private equity funding round - bringing its private capital base, by our count, to at least $339 million since its inception three years ago.
The new funds, which add $74 million to a $115 million commitment the company announced in January, will be sufficient to trigger a $528.7 million federal loan guarantee Fisker plans to use to help acquire a former GM assembly plant in Delaware, develop its upcoming "Project Nina" line of family oriented plug-in hybrids and complete development work on the $88,000 Fisker Karma (right) extended-range plug-in hybrid sport sedan that has been in progress for several years.
The Karma, now slated to go on sale early next year, initially will be built under contract in Finland but was engineered and designed at Fisker's Southern California headquarters, the company says, insisting that federal funding will be used to pay only for U.S. development efforts on both the Karma and Project Nina cars.
Fisker did not identify investors in the financing round that closed today, and a spokesman said no company officials would be available for comment over the holiday weekend.
Previous investors have included the renowned green energy investment firms Palo Alto Investors and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, lithium-ion battery maker A123Systems, and a unit of the Qatar Investment Authority - an arm of the oil rich emirate of Qatar.
(Note, Fisker Automotive says that Eco Drive Partners, previously listed as a backer, does not have an investment in the company.)
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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