Xos Trucks Inc., a manufacturer of fully electric commercial vehicles, today announced it has raised $20 million from a group of investors including Proeza Ventures, a mobility-focused VC firm backed by Metalsa’s holding company, and BUILD Capital Group. 

The financing, which closed in early 2020, will be used to grow operations and further scale production of the X-Platform currently used by customers Loomis and UPS, among others. 

“We’re excited to continue growing our operations to provide best-in-class last-mile electric vehicles for our customers,” said Dakota Semler, cofounder and CEO of Xos Trucks, in a press announcement. “It’s our goal to provide reliable, affordable, and sustainable transportation as the volume of e-commerce demands are increasing and have accelerated during the pandemic.”

Joining Xos’ board are Rodolfo Elias Dieck of Proeza Ventures, focused exclusively on funding high-growth mobility startups, and Mark Lampert of BUILD Capital Group and a former Daimler executive.

Xos has also made several key hires: Kingsley Afemikhe as its CFO and Rob Ferber, employee number one and science director at Tesla, as CTO.   

As part of the investment, Metalsa has assisted Xos in the design of the X-Platform and is providing components to the chassis. Xos vehicles have also been in use for delivery on UPS customer routes in the Los Angeles area for the past eight months.

California adopted a landmark rule requiring more than half of all commercial trucks sold in the state to be zero-emissions by 2035, and all trucks by 2045. According to Xos Trucks, the new law further validates the market opportunity for the manufacturer.