UK electric vehicle (EV) charging company POD Point is closing in on its Series C investment round, brightening up the future of EV sales in the UK considerably.
The raise is being led by VC firm Draper Esprit, which has invested a total of £5 million for new shares and secondaries. Other contributions to this round feature £2 million from Barclays Capital and £550,000 from angel investors.
Additionally, POD Point has now launched a £1.5 million crowdfunding campaign via CrowdCube in order to cement the round. This is, by now, something that POD Point has some experience with since it has previously raised £3.3 million in two crowdfunding rounds through Seedrs and CrowdCube.
Commenting on the investment, POD Point CEO Erik Fairbairn said:
This is a significant milestone… the way people use cars is changing and how they are powered is at the epicentre of that. Travel shouldn’t damage the earth, which is why we are building the most advanced intelligent charging network in the UK, the POD Point Open Charge Network.
Increase in EV sales
In 2016, 30,000 plug-in vehicles were sold in the UK, with a prediction of 10% of all new car sales being EVs by 2020. With the global EV market poised to enter a hypergrowth phase, POD Point’s objective is to establish itself as Europe’s leader in charging points.
POD Point has already manufactured and sold 27,000 charging points in the UK since being founded in 2009.
The company has formed partnerships with Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Heathrow and Gatwick airports and recently signed new deals with Barratt Homes, Holiday Extra, and Hyundai.
Currently, a major roadblock that EV drivers face is the lack of charging stations. Post-investment, POD Point aims to relieve this ‘range anxiety’ by installing charge points in all long-stay car parks in the UK. Other anticipated developments resulting from the investment include the direct creation of around 100 new jobs in the UK and the doubling of POD Point turnover this financial year to £9 million.
This news has arrived amid calls for greener cars in the UK. Government policy aims to create clean air zones in at least five UK cities by 2020.
