Former HTC Executive Raises Huge War Chest to Launch Gogoro, a Smart City Startup

Gogoro, a Taiwanese startup led by former HTC executive Horace Luke, has quietly amassed tens of millions of dollars to build a device around energy management.

While the startup has unveiled its name, funding details and management, it’s waiting until CES to reveal its first product.

“It is not a smart light bulb,” Luke told Re/code.

The founder is joined by Matt Taylor, a former HTC chief technologist and Microsoft mobile executive, and the pair have a team of about 275 workers, mostly in Taiwan. “We are working on something that has depth,” Luke added.

And lest you think the name offers clues, Luke says it doesn’t really mean anything beyond conveying action and sounding fun.

Gogoro raised $50 million in a Series A round in 2011 and is in the process of finalizing a $100 million round now, Luke said. The $50 million came from HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang and Samuel Yin, the Taiwanese billionaire founder of Ruentex Group.

Gogoro also says it’s working with Panasonic, which is serving as a “strategic partner.”

Luke left HTC as its chief innovation officer in 2011.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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