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Alternative Energy - Wednesday, August 5, 2009

T. Boon Pickens' V Vehicle Raises 62.5M For Alt Energy Car Firm

San Diego-based V Vehicle has raised $62.25M. Details of the funding are sketchy as this may or may not be part of a reported $100M investment from Kleiner Perkins or it may be new funding..

V-Vehicle is backed by T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano. The firm reportedly bought a plant in Monroe, Louisiana that was most recently was operated by Guide Corp. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was at the announcement ceremony and says that the state offered the startup an incentive package worth $67M, and local governments will put up a further $15M. A ccording to Louisiana’s News Star, V-Vehicle ultimately aims to raise some $400-$500M through both equity and loans, including at least $263M in federal loans.

Outside of this funding information, the startup is in stealth mode so has no web site, nor information about the cars they plan to build. We do know that Frank Varasano is the founder and CEO of V-Vehicle. 63 Years Frank Varasano was EVP of Oracle. Prior to that, he did 26-years at Booz Allen Hamilton where he led its largest practice (Engineering and Manufacturing), in the largest office (New York) and largest regional profit center (the United States). He knows Ray Lane from Oracle and Kleiner Perkins.