The new automaker proves market differentiation and capital-efficient business model with strategic backing from top investors

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Sept. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — TELO Trucks, maker of the first electric mini truck built for U.S. cities, today announced its oversubscribed $20M Series A funding. This funding round was led by legendary designer Yves Behar, and Marc Tarpenning co-founder of Tesla and Venture Partner of Spero Ventures. Additional investment came from TO VC, E12 Ventures, Neo, Marc Benioff, Uncorrelated Ventures, Nova Threshold, MCJ, and others.

TELO Trucks stands out in the market with a new category of trucks that meets a critical need for functionality across both consumer and fleet audiences. The TELO MT1 delivers the capabilities of a full-size crew cab work truck in the footprint of a 2-door MINI Cooper.

Yves Behar, co-founder of TELO Trucks said: 
“I have great confidence in the TELO team as we build a future-proof vision for mobility. The MT1 proves that innovation can deliver smarter design, greater practicality, and uncompromised capability, shaping how we’ll all move tomorrow.”

Marc Tarpenning, Venture Partner at Spero Ventures said: 
“TELO has the vision, product, capital efficiency, and manufacturing strategy to make the next great transportation company.”

This round follows TELO’s $6M strategic Seed round, led by Neo, and their previous $2M Pre-Seed, led by GoAhead Ventures.

Capital Efficiency

TELO has demonstrated a first-of-its-kind effort in capital efficiency. With only $8M raised over the past three years, TELO launched two fully realized pre-production prototypes that have already earned critical acclaim from the automotive media. This overtakes other automakers who have required in excess of $50M to achieve the same milestone, making TELO the most capital efficient automaker ever.

Joshua Phitoussi, Managing Partner at TO VC said:
“Disciplined scale-up is the name of the game in auto manufacturing. Many companies have made the fatal mistake of scaling up too fast, with too few proof points of product-market fit. TELO, on the other hand, has a liquid and well understood bill-of-materials, and CAPEX-light manufacturing model that leans on blue-chip partners, and 12,000 reservations that get the company well past profitability. This team has shown that they can execute with scarce resources. We’re excited to see what they can do now with strong funding and long-term partners.”

With this new tranche of capital, TELO intends to reach production readiness and pass all federal requirements to get the TELO MT1 on the road.

Strong Market Demand

With over 12,000 pre-orders, representing $600M+, TELO has struck a chord with American consumers. TELO builds right-sized trucks that buck the trend for super-sized, impractical and inefficient alternatives currently available on the market. At just 152 inches in length, the MT1 has the same truck bed length as the Toyota Tacoma and the capability of towing 6,600lb.

Uncompromising Utility

The TELO MT1 all-electric mini truck is over 5 feet shorter than the most popular mid-sized trucks, and two-feet shorter than the 1980s “small trucks” of the past. The world’s most efficient EV pickup, the TELO MT1, delivers:

• Seating for 5 adults
• A 5-foot bed that extends to 8 feet with a folding mid-partition
• Once extended, the bed has space to fit plywood flat on the floor (not over wheel wells)
• All-wheel drive
• Up to 350 miles of range
• Exceptional navigability for high-density towns and cities

Compact in size, the TELO MT1 sets a new standard for what a truck can be.

For more information about TELO, or to pre-order a TELO Truck for only $152 — the length in inches of the vehicle — please visit www.telotrucks.com.

About TELO Trucks
Co-founded by CEO Jason Marks,  CTO Forrest North, and CCO Yves Béhar, with design contributions from fuseproject, TELO Trucks is shrinking the mobility footprint. Its signature TELO Truck, launched in June 2023, combines the bed capacity of a standard pickup and the comfort of a crew cabin in a dramatically compact 152-inch vehicle. With over 12,000 pre-orders since launch, TELO represents a new era of capital-efficient EV companies.

Media Contact
Hannah Dudley
TELO Trucks Communications
hannah@telotrucks.com

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SOURCE Telo Trucks

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