Scottish off-road vehicle manufacturer Munro EV has secured £2 million from existing investor Elbow Beach and other parties in order to ramp up production and create up to 300 jobs.
The funding is from a consortium of investors believed to include the Scottish government which has previously offered only small scale grants.
There were expectations in August that the East Kilbride-based firm would raise up to £6m when co-founder Russel Peterson admitted that raising funds was proving tough.
Following the latest raise, Munro company to scale up “significantly”, from building just 24 vehicles a year from next January to 500 a year by the third quarter of 2027.
Two years ago the firm said it had a pipeline of potential customers worth £68m and recently he announced that this had translated into £17m of firm orders.
The investment is aimed at accelerating production of the Glasgow-based manufacturer’s M-Series vehicles, designed for the mining, defence and construction industries.
The company is targeting production capacity of up to 5,000 vehicles annually in the next six years, with initial deliveries of the M-Series to Gleneagles Hotel and Denbighshire Council having taken place this year.
Munro is currently recruiting additional assembly and engineering staff.
“This investment validates the critical need for zero-emission solutions in heavy industry,“ said Mr Peterson.
“Mining companies, defence interests and construction firms are actively seeking alternatives to diesel-powered vehicles, both to meet sustainability targets and reduce operational costs.
“The M-Series delivers on both fronts without compromising the performance these industries demand.“
He continued: “The UK Ministry of Defence plans to procure replacements for the Land Rover and Pinzgauer vehicles in its fleet under the Land Mobility Strategy and the Munro M-Series can meet those requirements while being more capable, quieter and cleaner.
“This is not a lifestyle vehicle that operators have to add robustness to with aftermarket parts or upgrade kits, this is a vehicle built from the ground up to be an off-road electric vehicle that will be operated in harsh environments.”
The M-Series vehicles come with a 1,000kg payload capacity and more than 170 ‘real world’ miles of range per charge.
Jon Pollock, chief executive of Elbow Beach, commented: “Through its focused approach, Munro is delivering a capital-light solution that accelerates decarbonisation while driving meaningful commercial benefits for the real economy.”
Munro was founded in 2019 by Peterson and Ross Anderson to manufacture all-electric 4×4 vehicles for commercial and private customers.
The 9am embargo on this announcement was broken by another media outlet
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