Taiwan's NDF joins round for smart scooter manufacturer

The round was led by Dr. Samuel Yin, chairman of Taiwan conglomerate Ruentex Group, with Panasonic Corporation among others to take part. Panasonic, which supplies battery cells to Gogoro, is the company's first strategic investor. Gogoro has now raised more than $180 million since it was founded in 2011.

"In 2011, we set out to establish a company that could be a key driver in igniting the smart city transformation of mega cities by changing how energy is managed and distributed. Today, we have sold close to 2,000 Smartscooter EVs and deployed nearly 90 GoStations across Greater Taipei, making the Gogoro Energy Network the most active and sophisticated battery swapping system in the world," Horace Luke, co-founder and CEO of Gogoro, said in a statement.

The company's Smartscooter can reach a speed of 95 kilometers per hour, generates no harmful emissions, and comes with two batteries that can support up to 100 km of travel. Swapping batteries takes six seconds. This can be done 24 hours a day at the GoStations around Taipei.

The NDF was set up in 1973 to invest in major Taiwan financial enterprises and start-up projects in industrial infrastructure, and to support small and medium-sized enterprises. It manages about $10 billion and has committed capital to VC funds as well as to start-ups directly.

This year, the NDF has committed up to $84 million to four venture capital funds and launched a $120 million Silicon Valley VC fund alongside the Ministry of Science and Technology.

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• Topics
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• Taiwan (China)
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