Jeff Bezos is offering a startup called Slate Auto to a secret EV startup based in Michigan, which could start production immediately next year, with sources and documents connecting the billionaire’s family office to the startup.
Slate is rooted in another Bezos-connected company, Re: Build Manufacturing, which has been quietly operating since its inception in 2022. The company hired hundreds of employees while invisible — many of them from Ford, General Automobile, Stralandis and Harley Davidson.
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Slate Auto is addressing a big goal: a reasonably priced two-seat electric pickup truck for about $25,000, and two sources were granted anonymous to talk about the company’s internal discussions. People say leaders inside the company have mentioned the Ford M-type or Volkswagen beetle as the North Star of the project.
It has accumulated a considerable war box to achieve this.
The company quietly raised at least $111 million in the 2023 Series A. Public documents. Bezos is involved, and Melinda Lewison, the man who runs the family office, is listed as a director of the Slate and has been submitted to the state and federal governments. Documents show that 16 people were invested in this round; it is not clear how much Bezos has invested.
According to multiple sources familiar with its funding, Slate told employees that Series B closed late last year. It has not submitted any paperwork to the SEC. Delaware paperwork shows that it authorized nearly 500 million Series B preferred shares at a price of $2.37 per share. (Slate has also authorized more than 400 million common shares over the past year, although the documents do not state prices.)
The Delaware paperwork also lists Walter and Tull as new board members, indicating the two invested in Slate’s Series B round. two Recently established A $40 billion holding company for investment. Walter and Tull were unable to comment.
According to the end of 2026 Work Liststate lobbying records, and Interview with Executive Chairman Rodney Copes in 2024. It is unclear whether Slate purchased an existing plant or plans to build a plant from scratch.
Secret projects are taking shape while challenging electric cars.
Growth in the sector has been explored Have cooledand several startups dedicated to building electric vehicles have filed for bankruptcy. Those who survive like Rivian and Lucid Motors do this by burning billions of dollars.
According to sources and various work lists, Slate plans to complement the smaller edge of its low-cost truck by building a range of accessories and outfits. It has filled executive positions with former Harley-Davidson and Stellantis employees – historically two companies relying on such auxiliary businesses (the former comes with clothing and the latter comes with Mopar Parts and accessories).
Sources say Slate is headquartered in Troy, Michigan, and the startup also showed proof of concept to investors in non-descriptive design studios. It targets high net worth individuals and keeps a tight cover during their fundraising process.
The company and multiple people connected to Slate: building manufacturing, Bezos’ family office did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the story. TechCrunch also contacted Bezos directly and received no response.
Deep Amazon relationships
Slate is shot with Amazon DNA.
According to Bezos’ family office, Slate’s A-series A-series includes funds from former Amazon executive Diego Piacentini. His company’s website.
Slate was originally created in early 2022 in the RE:Build Manufacturing project, RE:CAR, which was co-founded by former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke and other domestic manufacturing incubators and theirs. MIT Leader Global Operations Classmate Miles Arnone. Now it’s several long-time Amazon executives at Build Manufacturing, including Wei Gao, who is the top vice president and technical consultant at Bezos.
Slate’s digital, e-commerce and car experience leads are Amazon expats. Even the original name of Slate includes the “RE:” prefix Amazon is used for events such as RE:MARS bots and AI conferences, or the annual RE: Invent for AWS.
Over the years, Bezos has invested in more than 30 companies through its family offices, touching the world of AI (confusion), robotics (picture), defense (Anduril) and even liquidity (Uber). Slate is one of the most direct investments in the electric vehicle sector between his company and Rivian’s.
However, this is largely what his investment is. People familiar with the company’s internal operations told TechCrunch that he has not seen him in his Michigan or Los Angeles offices in Slate.
Reversal of the trend
Over the past decade, almost all EV startups that have emerged (and disappeared) have tried to replicate the approach Tesla has taken in some way. They designed their first car as a high-end product so they could sell their cars for more money. Ultimately, after increasing brand awareness, these companies entered higher volumes, and cheaper electric vehicles generated smaller profit margins.
According to people who spoke to TechCrunch, Slate rebelled against this by following the “first car” it hopes to be a buyer.
The idea is to sell trucks for about $25,000 and let owners personalize or upgrade cars over time because they can afford it.
In late March, Slate applied trademark In this sentence: “We built it. You did.” It can cover a long list of goods and services, including everything from switches and speakers to USB ports and pet seat belts.
Many of the work lists Slate has published over the past two years can collect additional details.
one Posted 2024 hints that the company will dubbing customer customization process “Slate University”. The listing was originally called “College Leader” and renamed it to “Customer Education Maintenance and Maintenance Leader” before the startup stopped accepting the app.
“We seek a passionate, experienced university leader to build and lead our game-changing approach to delivering open source content to customers to enhance their ownership experience,” the listing reads. “As a leader, you will drive the strategic and ecosystem development of educational content and delivery for Slate shoppers, customers, technicians and partners.”
Another job List For “Chief Product Manager, Accessories” explains that slate is “an opportunity to explore electric mobile spaces and is building free accessories, clothing and merchandise capabilities”. It also mentioned that the person will oversee the development of “utilities parts” and “lifestyle and personalized accessories.”
This approach – subsidizing low-margin manufacturing operations through higher profitable accessories, is used by automakers, including Harley-Davidson, its apparel division and Jeep maker Stellantis, and its Mopar parts and services division.
It’s no surprise that Slate has gained experience from both companies in building the team.
The executive chairman of the startup is Rodney Copes, who spent 20 years at Harley-Davidson. Chief Financial Officer Ryan Green has spent nearly a decade on the finances of motorcycle manufacturers. (Copes and Green also has a job at Rivian.) Slate’s head of service, business, accessories product management and growth marketing also works at Harley-Davidson.
According to a work list, Slate obviously plans to source high-voltage battery packs, motors and other related technologies from external suppliers. According to another list of design/issuing engineers for windshield wipers, the startup is “challenging the status quo of vehicle design.” The post on the Accountant Position says the people hired must help implement the “system needed to become a public company.”
According to another potential PR and communications chief role: “You have to love cars! You think about cars all day every day, and when you love cars, it’s the most fun.”
Founder not found
The trend for Slate seems to be for other EV startups is that it does not have founders as CEO.
Arnone is considered the founder of Slate, but his daily job is the CEO of RE:Build Instrucation, according to sources who spoke with TechCrunch.
Instead, Slate’s CEO is Chrysler veteran Christine Barman. According to 2023, she initially entered the automotive industry through an internship with General Motors. interview.
Then, according to her LinkedIn profile, she spent more than 20 years at Chrysler, overseeing the vehicle line plans for the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Jeep Cherokee. Baman ended up becoming vice president of electrical and electronics for Fiat Chrysler, where she led the automaker’s Android Automotive integration and spent some time working with Waymo before leaving the company in 2017.
Over the past decade, Barman has not released online like her EV startup CEO counterparts. Instead, she mainly advises the company on emerging technologies and teaching engineering techniques before she can participate in 2022, when it was a freshman EV project in RE: Build Instraghing.
Baman did not respond to a request for comment.
Kirsten Korosec contributed to the report.
