Lean Mobility, a developer and seller of three-wheeled electric vehicles, announced on 22nd June that it had secured around ¥800m ($5m) in a pre-Series A funding round.
Founded in 2022 by chief executive Akihiro Yanaka, formerly of Toyota Motor Corporation, the firm is a startup built on an alliance spanning Japan and Taiwan. Its Japanese office is in Toyota, Aichi prefecture, while its Taiwanese offices are in Taipei and Taoyuan.
An EV with a 3.6-metre turning radius
Lean Mobility has already developed the “Lean3”, a three-wheeled EV that is now on the verge of launching in the Japanese market.
Measuring 2,470mm long and 970mm wide, the Lean3 is roughly a third the size of a typical car. As the photograph above shows, its body can lean into corners much like a motorcycle. That design gives it a tight turning radius of 3.6 metres. Japan has a category of small vehicles known as “kei cars”, but even the most manoeuvrable of these has a turning radius in the low four metres.
Another of the Lean3’s notable features is its air-conditioning. In the muggy summers of Japan and Taiwan, heat tends to build up inside a cabin. Though it seats just one, the vehicle has clearly been designed with comfort in mind.
Top speed is 60kph, and range is 100km, with charging taking between five and seven hours.
The Japanese-spec model falls under the country’s “minicar” classification: it can be driven on an ordinary licence and requires no shaken roadworthiness inspection. Japan’s kei cars, by contrast, are subject to the same periodic statutory inspections as standard passenger vehicles.
Pricing for the Japanese model has also been set, starting at ¥1,698,000. In January this year the company announced that it had reached an agreement with Autobacs Seven, a Japanese car-accessory retailer, on sales and after-sales service. Lean Mobility is also considering direct sales.
Funds to set up a mass-production line in Tainan
The pre-Series A round was led by Tech Sphere Investments (TSI), a Taiwanese venture-capital firm. Japan Green Investment Corp. for Carbon Neutrality (JICN), which invests in carbon-neutrality-related businesses in Japan, joined as a new investor.
The proceeds will be put towards four ends:
- accelerating mass-production plans (setting up a production line at the Tainan plant);
- strengthening sales and service networks for production vehicles in Japan and Taiwan;
- opening up new markets; and
- accelerating development and recruitment.
Mr Yanaka commented: “Receiving backing in this round from investors at home and abroad—including JICN, a public-private fund under the Ministry of the Environment, and our lead investor TSI—is, I believe, an endorsement of our vision that mobility with an efficient, lean size and set of functions leads to a richer life.”
