California Awards $20M Grant To Electric Motorcycle Startup Ryvid

The funds will help create jobs and support the state’s climate goals.

Dustin Wheelen

By: Dustin Wheelen

Nov 30, 2022 at 4:32pm ET

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Remember the Ryvid Anthem? The pint-sized electric motorcycle developed by self-labeled “aerospace industry gearheads”. No? Okay, let’s jog the ol’ memory.

The Anthem weighs in at just 240 pounds. Ryvid saddles that flyweight with a swingarm-housed motor and a removable 4.3 kWh lithium-ion battery, which pushes the wee EV to 53 lb-ft of torque and a 75-mph top speed. Users can expect up to 75 miles (50 miles in Sport Mode) per charge and 3-6-hour recharge intervals.

While the Anthem seems triumphant on paper, producing such a model on a mass scale is practically impossible without some additional help. Fortunately, the state of California believes in the little EV that could, bestowing a $20M grant on the Irvine-based company.

“These are exactly the types of investments and jobs that were envisioned by the CalCompetes Program,” CalCompetes Deputy Director Scott Dosick revealed. “This grant will enable Ryvid to not only establish business operations in California but also cement its presence here for the long-term future. Once again, California will be the home for innovation and investment that will increase employment, create living-wage jobs and contribute towards the state’s world-leading climate goals.”

California instituted the California Competes Tax Credit program to promote business development within the state. During three different registration periods each year, companies of all sizes can apply for a state-funded grant. The organization then distributes $180M in available tax credits based on factors such as regional impact and the resulting full-time jobs.

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The funds awarded to Ryvid will help the brand establish its new headquarters in Hawaiian Gardens, a city in Los Angeles County. The firm will then begin construction of a San Bernadino-based manufacturing facility in 2023 along with an El Cajon lithium battery production facility in 2025.

“The Ryvid team is very grateful to Governor Newsom and the California Competes Program for this grant. We welcome the opportunity to serve our California community, the nation, and the entire globe through sustainable electric vehicle production,” explained Ryvid CEO Dong Tran. “The founders of Ryvid are immigrants and children of immigrants who came to California for a better life, and we are committed to providing high-paying manufacturing jobs to our home state for years to come in one of the fastest growing sectors of electric mobility.”