California-based electric vehicle startup Telo said on Tuesday it has raised $20 million in Series A funding to develop its compact all-electric pickup truck, the MT1, as larger EV trucks face weak demand in the United States.
The funding round was co-led by industrial designer and company co-founder Yves Béhar and Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who also serves on Telo’s board. Other backers include Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and venture capital firms TO VC, E12 Ventures and Neo.
Founded in 2022, Telo has focused on building a smaller pickup tailored for city use, with a starting price of around $41,000. Chief Executive Jason Marks said the company is concentrating on urban drivers rather than competing directly with full-size models. “Our hyper-focus is on trucks for the downtowns of cities,” Marks told TechCrunch.
The MT1 measures about the length of a Mini Cooper but offers seating for five passengers and a five-foot bed. Marks said the design aims to maximize “performance per square foot,” noting, “We’re the only vehicle that can seat five with a five-foot bed.”
Telo projects the truck will deliver about 350 miles of range on a full charge, supported by a 106 kWh battery pack. Marks said achieving that figure required trade-offs, such as reducing acceleration performance to prioritize efficiency and packaging.
The company has received around 12,000 preorders but plans to begin with contract manufacturing of about 5,000 units annually. Deliveries are expected by the end of 2026, following crash testing and compliance with U.S. safety standards.
Marks said the company’s goal is to achieve profitability quickly rather than scale rapidly. “Our whole ethos is, what does it take to get to unit profitability as quickly as possible,” he said. “That’s positioned us differently than the other automakers who have come out and said, ‘Hey, we need a billion dollars to get to production.’”
Telo operates with about 25 employees at its San Carlos, California, facility, adjacent to Tesla’s original headquarters. The company uses consultants and contractors to reduce costs, a model Marks said is central to its lean strategy. “It’s a pretty incredible community that just wants to see new architectures for mobility succeed,” he added.
The MT1 enters the market at a time when large EV pickups face challenges. Tesla’s Cybertruck has struggled to gain traction, Stellantis canceled the Ram 1500 REV, and sales of Ford’s F-150 Lightning have slowed.