Melinda Lewison exits board of EV startup Slate Auto

Melinda Lewison, who leads investments at Bezos Expeditions, has stepped down from the board of directors—the governing body—of Slate Auto. According to corporate filings in Delaware, Florida, and Massachusetts, Lewison stepped down within the last few months. Her departure leaves the electric vehicle startup without direct representation from its high-profile backer, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as the company prepares to put its low-cost electric truck into production later this year.

The startup has accumulated significant capital to fund its production goals, though the exact scale of Bezos’s personal financial contribution remains undisclosed. The company’s funding history includes:

• A first funding round in 2023 that totaled around $120 million.
• A Series B round—the second major stage of venture capital financing—which brought its total funding to around $700 million.
• A $650 million Series C round, the third major stage of venture capital financing, which was announced last month.

The Series C round was led by TWG Global, an investment firm run by Mark Walter, with participation from existing investor Slauson & Co, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm.

Despite his financial backing, Bezos has remained “pretty hands-off” regarding the startup’s day-to-day operations. Chris Barman, Slate Auto’s first hire and former CEO, described the relationship late last year: “We’ve had interface where we invited him in and he came and joined us once along the journey, and looked at the vehicle, and we talked a little bit about what the future might be. But other than that, he’s very hands off and really letting us focus on getting the vehicle to market.”

Bezos is apparently focused on robotics at his new startup, Project Prometheus. That company raised more than $6 billion late last year and is reportedly seeking $100 billion for a new fund focused on industrial automation. Even without Bezos’s direct board representation, Slate Auto remains heavily staffed by Amazon alumni. The startup was co-founded by former Amazon Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke, and its new CEO is Peter Faricy, the former VP of Amazon Marketplace. Many of the company’s divisions are led by former Amazon employees.

Why it matters

The departure of Melinda Lewison from Slate Auto’s board leaves the electric vehicle startup without direct representation from its high-profile backer, Jeff Bezos, as the company prepares to launch its first vehicle.