It’s been a year of growth for Pure Watercraft.
In July, the Seattle, Wash.-based electric outboard outfit agreed to team with Highfield RIBs to provide complete propulsion packages for two boats — an 11-foot, 10-inch or 12-foot, 6-inch RIB — modified in collaboration with Pure to accommodate electric propulsion components.
Yesterday, CEO Andrew Rebele announced funding of $23.4 million on the company’s blog that he says will allow Pure to build out the team and increase production capacity to meet demand.
According to GeekWire, the series A funding round was led by L37 Ventures, a San Francisco venture capital firm.
“We’ve spent the last nine years developing the Pure Outboard — the highest performance electric marine propulsion system on the market (in terms of propulsion for its weight),” Rebele said. “While there are many different kinds of boats, the way to bring all of them into a new era that’s more enjoyable and accessible to more people than ever before is to develop groundbreaking technology from the ground up, and to find ways to power the boats people want.”
In addition to the project with Highfield, Pure has developed complete boat packages — including a Tracker bass boat a Sun Tracker pontoon model.
“These offerings make it easy for someone to choose a complete system, with the confidence of knowing that everything fits together well, and serves the purpose they intend,” Rebele said.
The complete power package includes the 25-kW motor (equivalent to 50 hp), lithium-ion battery pack, throttle, two connecting power cables and battery pack charger.
According to Pure’s FAQ section, one battery will recharge at 120V from half to full in 4.5 hours; at 240V, that drops to 1.5 hours with either one or two batteries.
The company further states that the outboards have no scheduled maintenance, should last up to a decade with regular use, and are significantly lighter than a comparable gas propulsion package.
