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BRD Motorcycles raises $4.5 million to ship electric racing bikes

Oct 04, 2014

San Francisco startup BRD just finished its Series A funding round, raising $4.5 million. Racing dirt bikes and supermoto are about to get a whole lot more fun (and quieter).

The RedShift MX bike should be comparable to a 250cc internal-combustion motocrosser. BRD photo.

The Series A round was led by Modara Technologies, which was joined by Cedarville Investments, Tesla Motors founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, and CEO of Baluarte Real Estate, Pedro Zapata Gil, from Spain. With this $4.5 million investment, BRD has raised a total of $8.2 million.

For many motocross tracks threatened by suburban sprawl, and related noise complaints, electric race bikes could provide a new lease on life. BRD photo.

This round of fundraising means BRD can begin production of the BRD RedShift MX electric dirt race bike and BRD RedShift SM electric supermoto. BRD says it plans to show the production-ready models at AIMExpo in Orlando, Fla., in two weeks. The BRD RedShift MX will retail for $14,995, while the BRD REdShift SM will retail for $15,495. The first units to go on sale will be sold at BMW Motorcycles of San Francisco.

If you've ever experienced the instant torque of an electric motorcycle, you know why this looks like so much fun to us. BRD photo.

BRD claims the RedShift will compete with 250cc four-strokes on Supercross and motocross tracks, and will have an advantage, due to the torque delivery of the electric motor. The RedShift and RedShift SM are easily the electric motorcycles I'm most excited to ride, and this news makes it more likely that will happen soon.