ChargePoint Raises $ 240 Million to Serve Early Flooding of Electric Vehicles – TechCrunch

Charging network for ChargePoint electric vehicles raised $ 240 million in a series of H Series financing that attracted a diverse group of investors from the automotive, energy, finance, venture capital, utilities and even oil and gas.

American Electric Power, Chevron Technology Ventures, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Daimler Trucks & Buses, GIC and Quantum Energy Partners. Existing investors include BMW i Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Linse Capital and Siemens.

The latest fundraising effort comes during a period of aggressive growth for the company with the growing number of automakers planning to produce electric vehicles.

"The broader energy and mobility ecosystem has recognized that we are about to shift from a generational shift to the electrification of transportation," said Pasquale Romano, president and chief executive officer of ChargePoint. in a statement.

ChargePoint, which designs, develops and manufactures hardware and software solutions for all cases of electric vehicle use, has raised more than $ 500 million to expand its network. Last year, the $ 125 million allocated to the company's G Series funded its expansion into Europe.

Today, ChargePoint's network has more than 57,000 independent public and semi-public charging stations.

The company is now preparing for a planned deluge of electric vehicles that will be introduced over the next four years. Car manufacturers of all sizes and from GM and Volkswagen to Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover have either launched an electric vehicle are preparing for. VW, for example, has announced the production of 15 million electric vehicles.

ChargePoint focuses on meeting the needs of electric vehicle owners on a daily basis as well as setting up the infrastructure needed to maintain fleets. The company plans to use this capital injection to expand its charging network in Europe and North America, expand options for fleets and improve the experience of electric vehicle drivers, the company said.

This means that the company plans to create features such as integrating the Alexa voice wizard or Amazon's Tap to Charge feature, which allows drivers to access information using voice commands or launch a charge from their phone.