Better Place Scores $350 Million to Develop Its 'Transformative' Electric Vehicle Business

Better Place, a revolutionary electric vehicle start-up company is set to receive $350 million USD in venture capital funding.

This new round of funding is an important vote of financial confidence for Better Place.  The investment was led by a $125 million investment by HSBC (NYSE:HBC), who will now own a 10% stake in the company.  The additional $225 million came from an assortment of firms including Morgan Stanley Investment Management (NYSE:MS), Lazard Asset Management (NYSE:LAZ), and VantagePoint Venture Partners. 

The new capital will be devoted to research and development.  In particular, Better Place will focus on completing its infrastructure development in Denmark and Israel.  Better Place has a unique vision which involves setting up switching stations for electric cars, where the car's batteries would be swapped for new batteries (in less time than it takes to fill up a gas tank), and the consumer would pay according to the distance they drove.

The recent funding brings Better Place's market value to $1.25 billion USD.  However, the company is expected to need billions more to meet its business goals.  Nevertheless, Anthony Bernbaum, global head of special opportunities for HSBC believes Better Place's vision could transform the transportation industry:  "It could be a game-change in its sector the way Google and Microsoft were in theirs."

Read the full story at the New York Times:  Better Place Adds $350 Million Toward Its Electric Car Goals