Electric truck startup Harbinger just closed a $160 million Series C round co-led by FedEx, with the logistics giant committing to 53 chassis deliveries by December. The deal marks a major validation for commercial EV adoption after years of false starts, positioning the three-year-old company as a serious player in the medium-duty truck market that's finally ready for mass electrification.
Electric truck startup Harbinger just pulled off something most EV companies only dream about - a customer willing to lead their funding round and immediately buy their trucks. The Los Angeles-based company closed a $160 million Series C co-led by FedEx, with the logistics giant placing an order for 53 electric truck chassis due by year's end.
The deal represents a stunning turnaround for commercial EV adoption. Just three years after launching with former Canoo and QuantumScape employees, Harbinger has managed to crack the notoriously conservative logistics market that's seen multiple EV partnerships collapse. FedEx burned through a disastrous relationship with LA startup Chanje in 2018, ordering 1,000 Chinese delivery vans in a deal that ended in lawsuits and bankruptcy.
But Harbinger's laser focus on medium-duty truck chassis - and nothing else - appears to be paying off. The company has already delivered over 200 chassis this year according to LinkedIn posts from executives, a remarkable achievement for a startup that only started production this year. That's more traction than most EV companies see in their entire existence.
"FedEx's participation signals a demand for innovation in the medium-duty truck sector," Dipender Saluja, managing partner of Capricorn Investment Group's Technology Impact Fund, told reporters. Capricorn, which was an early Tesla investor, co-led the round alongside FedEx and RV-builder THOR Industries, which has been working with Harbinger for years.
The timing couldn't be better. The commercial EV landscape is littered with casualties - General Motors recently killed its BrightDrop delivery van program after lackluster sales, while Ford's E-Transit van sales have plummeted according to InsideEVs data. Even Rivian, despite delivering 25,000 vans to , hasn't locked down another major commercial customer.
