Aggressive Apple recruitment causes death of electric motorcycle startup

Even though Apple has not openly accepted of working on an electric vehicle, the fact that the firm hired many auto experts suggests its future plans.

Now, this strong-arm recruitment has resulted in a startup specialising in electric motorcycles having to close its doors for good due to losing all of its top talent to the iPhone-maker.

While the news itself doesn’t change the outcome for Mission Motorcycles, it does shine a light on the challenges faced by other manufacturers which continue to ride on with their own models and the required effort to develop the needed technology to drive electric motorcycles forward. The firm was trying to raise a crucial round of funding last autumn, and around the same Apple Inc.

A123 Systems, an electric-car battery maker, sued NASDAQ:AAPL in February for employing few of its top engineers, and alleged that it had been compelled to halt key projects.

Apple by no means tried to purchase Mission Motors, Kaufman stated. Mission’s aim was to build high performance electric bikes.

Other employees also joined companies such as Tesla and Harley-Davidson, but Apple grabbed the largest share, they added.

Sherwood declined to comment. Cohen and Sun didn’t reply to requests for remark.

Mission Motors was founded in 2007 with ambitions to create a world-class electric motorcycle, and it launched an early prototype in 2013 to positive reviews.

“It was the flawless bike I’ve ever thrown a leg over”, former Mission worker Jeremy Cleland stated.

But Mission was perpetually on the verge of running out of money, people with knowledge of the matter said.

According to the recent story, this is where Mission Motorcycles may have come undone.

Infield Capital, the most important investor which now controls the corporate, is in talks with events which can be curious about buying the remaining Mission Motors belongings, together with designs for elements and software program, a patent portfolio, and a battery lab, stated Bill Perry, a enterprise adviser on the agency.

They include Seth LaForge, an engineer on Google’s self-driving vehicle project, and Jon Wagner, Tesla’s director of battery engineering – an impressive tally for a company that never numbered more than about 50 employees.