Zouk Capital backs on-street ev charging company char.gy
Zouk managed Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund makes third investment.
London, United Kingdom: Zouk Capital today announces a £6.4m investment into char.gy, an on-street EV charge point operator and eMSP (eMobility Service Provider), which is rolling out on-street residential electric vehicle charging points in the UK.
char.gy was launched in 2016 with the goal of solving residential electric vehicle charging for people without off-street parking. char.gy is the most convenient way for drivers to charge an electric vehicle on their street as it utilises existing street infrastructure and an existing grid connection to provide two key solutions. This is either a lamppost smart charge point that fits onto an existing lamppost or a satellite bollard smart charge point for greater placement flexibility (but still connecting into a nearby lamppost). char.gy also has a standalone bollard. Wrapped around all these EV chargers is char.gy’s reliable, interoperable and easy to use software solution.
The company has almost 1,000 EV chargers across the UK having worked with numerous councils including Southwark, Coventry, Merton, Buckinghamshire, Redbridge, Harrow, Haringey and Brent with new installations about to get underway in Croydon and Leicester as well as a pipeline of opportunities with private sector hosts.
“Driving an electric vehicle without off-street parking is still a real challenge for those looking to make the shift,” commented Richard Stobart, CEO and founder of char.gy. “We envisage a world where every lamppost is also a charge point. Wouldn’t that make things simpler? We think so, and this is why we want to roll out char.gy to all corners of the UK and tackle new markets abroad. We are delighted Zouk Capital and CIIF will be supporting char.gy on this journey and we look forward to working with them to rapidly scale the business to improve access to EV charge points to every household without a driveway.”
George Ridd, Partner at Zouk Capital, adds: “CIIF’s central objective is to scale open-access, public EV charging networks for the UK’s EV drivers and all its investments reflect this goal. char.gy is already successfully providing access to EV chargepoints for thousands of EV owners, who do not have off street parking at home. This funding round from CIIF will help boost this key part of the overall EV charging solution for the UK. This investment is just the beginning of CIIF’s relationship with char.gy as we will be putting millions into rolling out a fully funded solution for their products to allow this part of the EV charging market to move beyond central government subsidy funding. We are excited to be working with Richard and his team to help rapidly scale char.gy’s offering.”
Matthew Vickerstaff, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Project Finance, Infrastructure and Projects Authority said: "Creating a radical step change in the delivery of the UK's infrastructure remains one of Government's top priorities. This next investment once again demonstrates the effectiveness of our partnership with the private sector to bring reliable and sustainable solutions for everyone across the UK."
Zouk is the manager of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF), the dedicated fund established by the UK Government in 2019 and backed by HM Treasury to help develop public charging infrastructure points for electric vehicles throughout the UK. The fund has already exceeded its original target of £400m and a final close is expected later this year.
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ABOUT CHAR.GY
char.gy was formed in 2016, based in London, with a focus on solving the problem of where to charge an electric vehicle for the 40% of the UK population that do not have off-street parking. To date the company’s focus has been on building a software platform, manufacturing charge points, and selling these charge points to Local Authorities in England. char.gy have nearly 1000 charge points on the streets, the majority in London and Coventry, and is in a strong position to further expand in both the public and private sectors. The business model to date has depended predominantly on the Local Authorities obtaining funding from OZEV to fund 75% of the capital costs of the charge points. char.gy then operates the charge points, collecting the revenue, paying for the ongoing operations and maintenance, the electricity consumed, and pays the local authority a small share of the revenue. www.char.gy
ABOUT ZOUK CAPITAL
Zouk Capital is a sustainable infrastructure and growth technology fund manager. Zouk's distinctive dual-track strategy capitalises on the commercial opportunities created by a global shift to greater resource efficiency, decarbonisation of industries and sustainability. Zouk’s infrastructure investment funds invest in projects and companies in the renewable energy and environmental infrastructure space, including sectors such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure, waste-to-energy, energy efficiency and distributed small-scale energy. Zouk manages the UK Treasury’s Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, which aims to catalyse the rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure that is required to support the electrification of vehicles. Zouk has invested in the sustainable economy since 2000, has almost €1bn under management and is based in London. www.zouk.com
ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE AND PROJECTS AUTHORITY
The IPA is the government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA sits at the heart of government, reporting to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. Our core teams include experts in infrastructure, project delivery and project finance who work with government departments and industry. We support the successful delivery of all types of infrastructure and major projects; ranging from railways, schools, hospitals and housing, to defence, IT and major transformation programmes.
