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Proterra Inc, a provider of zero-emission commercial transit solutions and maker of the battery-electric fast-charge transit bus, the EcoRide, has closed a $23 million Series B financing round. According to the company, orders under contract for the company's flagship EcoRide from public transit agencies has tripled in the past twelve months alone and it is planning for this current growth path to continue.

The round was led by new investor, Hennessey Capital, who joined additional outside investor NMT Capital as well as existing investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, GM Ventures, Mitsui & Co. Global Investment, Inc., 88 Green Ventures and Vision Ridge Partners. In conjunction with the investment closing, Rajiv Ghatalia, President and Founder of Hennessey Capital Management LLC, will join Proterra's Board as an advisor. 

This investment round is expected to accelerate Proterra's EcoRide bus deployment to new US transit customers, open new markets and spur next generation system offerings.

In the past 18 months, Proterra has grown from two to seven major transit agency customers with a large and growing pipeline. The company says that earlier this year, the EcoRide became the first heavy-duty electric transit bus to complete challenging federally required durability and reliability testing at the Bus Research and Testing Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, demonstrating best in class energy efficiency and noise levels.