Bonnet, a London-based startup that aims to improve the experience of electric vehicle drivers, has secured a £920K ($1.3M) total funding for the business.
Notably, £850K came from an equity financing round led by Ascension Ventures with investors from Imperial College London and APX, while the additional £70K grant came from Innovate UK and OZEV.
The funding will be used to support the growth of the ten-strong team at Bonnet as well as expanding the platform’s chargepoint offering and partnerships with network operators.
Improving EV drivers experience
Founded in 2019 by Patrick Reich and Eliot Makabu, Bonnet aims to improve the experience of electric vehicle drivers who can not rely on home charging by creating an interoperable, reliable, and cheap platform.
The company provides an app that allows drivers to see real-time data on charger availability and functionality – drawn from multiple sources – and offers drivers ‘bundles’ of cheaper charging that they can use anyway across the network.
1,400 locations across UK
The platform offers various benefits including, its simple pricing structure, guaranteeing cheaper charging rates to EV drivers through a dynamic monthly refill plan than if paid directly through a networks app or RFID card
Since the launch, Bonnet has aggregated charging points in 1,400 locations across the UK and aims to have integrated with 70% of UK charge points by the end of 2021.
There are currently over 40 different UK charging networks with unique payment systems: Bonnet’s charging bundles will give drivers seamless access to all of these, at great rates, with 24/7 support.
The team is also introducing semi-public and private charging points for app users, paving the way for domestic chargepoint owners to monetise too, as part of a semi-public network.
Commenting on the funding, co-founder and CEO Patrick Reich says: “We’re honoured to have been awarded this funding round for Bonnet which will propel our offering nationwide. Since we launched in October 2019, we’ve seen a real acceleration in the growth of our platform. In the past six months alone, we’ve partnered with the likes of ESB, Shell Recharge, EVBox, Alfa Power, Franklin Energy, Plug-N-Go, Allego, Fastened, and char.gy to provide cheaper and simpler public charging for customers.
“Our goal is to take the anxiety out of charging electric vehicles and believe the process should be far more democratic and accessible – particularly for drivers in urban areas who need on-demand, affordable public chargepoint access. By expanding our offering this year, Bonnet can become the top resource for drivers looking for reliable real-time chargepoint data and simple EV payments: we’re committed to ensuring EV drivers never overpay again,” he concluded.