Fort Worth-based Linear Labs has raised $4.5 million from investors and venture capital firms to rev up sales of a new electric motor that can be used in cars, scooters, robotics, wind turbines and more.

Brad Hunstable (left) and his father, Fred Hunstable, co-founded Linear Labs. They plan to license their motor system to major auto manufacturers and other companies.

The funding round was led by Science Inc., a Los Angeles area venture firm, and Kindred Ventures, a San Francisco venture firm. It included backing from billionaire investor and former Shark Tank judge Chris Sacca and his wife, Crystal Sacca; former CEO of Plano-based Masergy Chris MacFarland; and former Ustream co-founder Gyula Feher.

Linear Labs was founded in 2014 by Brad Hunstable, a Granbury native who co-founded live video streaming pioneer Ustream and sold it to IBM in 2016 in a deal reported to be worth $130 million. Hunstable shuttled back and forth from Texas to California for years, living in the rural community of Aledo and working at the company’s headquarters in Silicon Valley.