EcoMotors, an Allen Park, Mich.-based company that develops fuel efficient, clean burning and quiet internal combustion engines for on-road and off-road applications, secured a lead investor for their series D funding round.
Zhongding Power, a subsidiary of China-based Zhongding Group and EM’s largest customer made the investment whose undisclosed amount. The deal represents a tightening partnership between the two companies, as Zhongding Power signed a product development agreement in 2010 and license agreement in 2013 to develop and produce EM’s opoc® engine technology in China.
The existing agreement represents an investment by Zhongding of more than $200m. The new plant will have a capacity to produce an estimated 100,000 engines per year.
According to a note, the engine will deliver the same power levels as conventional engines but in a smaller and lighter package. When compared to a conventional turbo-diesel engine, opoc has the potential to deliver an improvement of more than 15 percent in fuel economy. Zhongding plans to supply the engines to a broad range of customers and applications, including power generation sets, as well as off-road and commercial vehicles.
Established in 2008 and led by President and CEO Amit Soman, EcoMotors is commercializing the opoc® engine for use in cars, light trucks, commercial vehicles, marine, agriculture, auxiliary power units, generators, etc.
The company is also backed by Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures and Braemar Energy Ventures.
FinSMEs
23/10/2015