Tony Fairweather has built EV technology business SEA Electric to almost unicorn valuation in five years in the US, saying he fled “hostile” Coalition government attitudes in Australia.
technology company says he is hopeful the 47th parliament will finally give the local sector the backing it needs to scale, after he felt forced to move to the United States., which has grown rapidly to be worth almost $US1 billion , said he was relieved to see a change in government, saying the hostile Coalition attitude towards EVs forced him to move offshore five years ago to grow his business.
“We needed to fund the growth of our business. We couldn’t get anything in Australia. We tried banks, we tried government support, we tried ARENA [the Australian Renewable Energy Agency] and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation,” he said.Mr Fairweather said a big four bank gave him a small trade finance facility, which it later pulled.
“If the current government supports and recognises [electrification] then the banks, the capital markets and investors and new components suppliers will get on board,” he said.
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