Los Angeles-based electric truck startup Harbinger has raised $160 million in a Series C funding round, and its biggest backer this time is none other than FedEx.
As part of the deal, FedEx is also ordering 53 of Harbinger’s electric truck chassis, which the startup says will be ready before the year ends.
Founded in 2022 by former employees of the now-defunct EV startup Canoo and battery company QuantumScape, Harbinger has kept its mission refreshingly simple: build medium-duty electric truck chassis, and do it well. That focus is paying off. The company raised $100 million in January and already started production this year, an impressive timeline for a three-year-old company in a notoriously tough industry.
While FedEx is Harbinger’s most recognizable customer yet, it’s not the only one. The startup has been quietly building partnerships, including with RV giant THOR Industries, which also co-led this latest round. Other backers include the Technology Impact Fund at Capricorn (an early Tesla investor), Leitmotif (a VC backed by Volkswagen), Tiger Global, Maniv Mobility, and Schematic Ventures.
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FedEx’s second shot at electrifying its fleet
This isn’t FedEx’s first bet on electric trucks. Back in 2018, the delivery giant placed an order for 1,000 EVs from another Los Angeles-based startup called Chanje, a deal that ended in lawsuits after Chanje collapsed. This time, FedEx is hoping Harbinger’s focused approach will deliver where others have failed.
The commercial EV market has been brutal lately. GM recently scrapped its BrightDrop electric van division, Ford’s E-Transit sales are sliding, and Rivian, despite shipping around 25,000 vans to Amazon, hasn’t secured another big commercial client.
Harbinger, however, isn’t playing in that same lane. Its focus on larger, medium-duty trucks, not small delivery vans, gives it a unique niche. The company says it’s sold over 200 chassis this year and even expanded into Canada.
“FedEx’s participation signals a demand for innovation in the medium-duty truck sector,” said Dipender Saluja, managing partner at Capricorn Investment Group’s Technology Impact Fund. “For two decades, we’ve only seen small pilot programs of electric trucks. The industry is finally ready for scale, and Harbinger is leading that charge.”
Harbinger’s rapid progress and FedEx’s return to electric partnerships suggest one thing: the race for cleaner, commercial logistics isn’t over, it’s just shifting gears. The real question now is, can Harbinger deliver where the giants stumbled?
