Electric boat maker X Shore sees bow lift after $50 million raise

Sweden’s electric boat maker X Shore has raised $50 million in a new funding round as it aims to ramp up production at its new Nyköping-based X Shore Industries 1 facility. The round was oversubscribed in less than 24 hours with Northvolt founder and CEO Peter Carlsson joining the cap table.

Having successfully completed a pilot production phase last autumn, X Shore’s newest production house rolled its first all-electric watercraft off the assembly line at the end of last month. 

Now, both consumers and investors alike will witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational boat station, capable of completing two vessels - hull to deck, stern to bow, per day.

To help realise his vision of producing fully electric, silent boats at scale, X Shore founder and chairman, and all-around rockstar Konrad Bergström attracted the likes of former Summa Equity partner Jenny Keisu to join the flotilla and serve as X Shore's CEO back in March of 2020.

“We have received an incredible amount of support during this latest funding round, resulting in over-subscription in less than two days. At a challenging time given market uncertainty, we are both proud and grateful of the enthusiasm for X Shore shown by well-reputable investors and the wider community,” commented Keisu. “With the launch of our new factory, X Shore Industries 1, the funds will be used to accelerate our production capabilities, ensuring that lead times for delivery are significantly decreased and also allow us to invest more in research and development, as well as to build out our sales channels globally.”

Behind the funding X Shore only comments that alongside Carlsson, “existing owners, board members, and management, new investors” participated in the raise.

Previous investors in X Shore include Delivery Hero founder Lukasz Gadowski’s Team Europe holding company, Navin Thukkaram, founder and CEO of Innovation Bootcamp, and Marec Gasiun, former Head of Automotive Business Development at Google.