ImpactAlpha, April 25 — Brooklyn-based Dollaride initially launched in 2018 to digitalize New York’s informal network of dollar van drivers and riders. With a $10 million grant from the New York State Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, Dollaride is working to electrify and decarbonize at least 100 dollar vans in Brooklyn and Queens this year.
A $500,000 investment from nonprofit climate tech investor Elemental Excelerator will support the electrification of a half-dozen vans and chargers in the Clean Transit Access Program and aims to catalyze an additional $27 million in financing.
Elemental’s investment “is catalytic as it’s designed to unlock additional capital that’s already in our pipeline,” Dollaride’s Su Sanni told ImpactAlpha. “The investment is structured to de-risk subsequent investments into the company, which would be made by more traditional debt lenders and project financiers.”
Catalytic capital
The investment in Dollaride is part of Elemental Excelerator’s infusion of $30 million in catalytic funding for local climate projects. “Our deeper investment in Dollaride is just the start of our deeper investments into scale-up projects,” said Elemental’s Dawn Lippert. “We have a dozen more investments in climate technology to help ensure that underserved communities experience the benefits of technology first, not last.”
Seven climate tech startups, including Dollaride, will receive Elemental’s 2023 Infrastructure Prize, which comes with project development, financing and strategy support from Elemental’s policy lab.
