French start-up Zeplug announced Wednesday that it has raised €240 million from a British fund to expand into the promising market for in-building electric car charging stations.
Intermediate Capital Group PLC invested in Zeplug through its infrastructure investment fund, ICG Infra, the operator said in a statement.
At the same time, Zeplug acquires one of its main French competitors, Bornes Solutions, which was in the portfolio of ICG Infra. Founded in 2014, Zeplug plans to use the capital raised from ICG Infra to accelerate its deployment in France and launch in neighboring countries (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland), but also in the United States, where it has opened an office, Nicolas Blanchet, CEO of Zeplug, told AFP.
Zeplug and several of its competitors, such as EDF, Waat or Park’n Plug, offer solutions to simplify the installation of charging stations in condominiums or in companies.
They usually take care of the installation of the collective infrastructure, such as cables and sometimes common meters, and then charge for the installation of the charging station, which is highly subsidized, as well as its maintenance and recharging.
In spite of the right to an outlet implemented in 2011, which allows each co-owner to install, at his own expense, an outlet for his vehicle, the number of co-ownerships equipped remains minimal, around 2%.
This lack of private charging stations in collective housing remains a major obstacle to the electrification of cars, an important brick in the fight against climate change.
“Many companies are active in this promising market. But among the players addressing the private load sector, there are few players of significant size,” said Ludovic Laforge of the ICG Infra fund.
“This segment has been the least developed because it’s a little more complicated. But it’s the segment that makes the most sense: people want to charge at home,” and that charging can be driven to charge at night, Laforge said.
Zeplug is also a partner of 18 car brands that have boosted their electric catalog and offer its services to their customers, including Audi, BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen. The company has 120 employees in France and Kiosks Solutions has about 100.
