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Aptera Gamifies Fund-Raising Process To Obtain More Than $20 Million

The life of solar vehicles is not going well in 2023. Sono Motors did not meet its plan to keep the Sion development alive, but it will not kill it anyway. Lightyear did not have that chance with the Lightyear 0. Aptera disclosed its Launch Edition and the need for $50 million more. However, the American startup made a move that may pay off: it gamified money raising.
Aptera will have an Accelerator Program to  reach production sooner 22 photos
Photo: Aptera
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Aptera revealed the Accelerator Program. The idea behind it is to have everyone willing to buy the solar trike compete for the first 2,000 that will be produced. The first spots in the line go to those that put more money into buying their Apteras. The minimum amount required to be eligible is $10,000. Old reservation holders will have their previous deposits added to the $10,000 they must disburse to join the Accelerator Program.

If you are wondering about Paradigm Edition vehicles – the very first Aptera said it would make – they really lost their place as the first ones in the line. They may recover it if they decide to join the new fundraising deal. Otherwise, they will have to wait for the Accelerator Program participants to get their vehicles. Paradigm Edition trikes will follow the first 2,000 units.

Make the calculations, and you’ll see this is the fastest way to raise a minimum of $20 million should everything go according to plan: 2,000 paying at least $10,000 represent that much money. The company may get even more cash, considering how the leaderboard is shaping up.

Someone named Bennet Y. paid $26,250 to earn the first production spot. The second production Aptera should go to Christopher B, who paid $21,000. The first six places in line paid more than $10,000. So far, 38 people are willing to have one of the first 2,000 Aptera Launch Edition units, with one of the buyers coming from the Netherlands and another from Canada.

In a way, that’s a similar strategy to that adopted by Sono Motors: asking reservation holders to pay for something as early as possible. However, there are crucial differences. The most important one is that Aptera did not make this fundraising a condition for product development to continue. Aptera states that the most significant threat failing to succeed represents would be delaying production once again.

The smart bit of the strategy is turning it into a game. Anyone with deep pockets willing to get the first production Aptera units will do anything necessary to get the solar trike. The competition and daily updates on who’s leading the race will keep things going until March 26, when the Accelerator Program ends. That’s 58 days, just eight days longer than the period Sono Motors established to save the Sion.

As we mentioned at the beginning of this story, Aptera needs $50 million, not 20 million. The rest of the money should come from a Series B2 investment round and also from a $21.9 million grant it may receive from the California Energy Commission. This grant requires Aptera to spend this money on equipment and machines to produce the solar trike and then ask for a refund. The grant is still in the formalization process, and the startup only wants to count on that money once the process is concluded. That should happen between February and March.

With that in mind, the company updated its expectations to start production. Instead of nine months after it gets the $50 million, it will need one year to kick off manufacturing. We hope the ones planning to take part in the Accelerator Program game know their reward will have to wait for that much.

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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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