UK electric vehicle (EV) charging company POD Point is finalising its Series C investment round as the future of EV sales in the UK looks bright.
The raise is led by VC firm Draper Esprit, which has invested a total of £5m for new shares and secondaries.
Other contributions to this round include £2m from Barclays Capital and £550,000 from angel investors.
POD Point has now launched a £1.5m crowdfunding campaign via CrowdCube to finalise the round. The process isn’t new to POD Point, which previously raised £3.3m in two crowdfunding rounds through Seedrs and CrowdCube.
Of 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.”
EV sales increase
In 2016, 30,000 plug-in vehicles were sold in the UK with 10% of all new car sales predicted to be EV by 2020.
As the global EV market is expected to enter a hyper-growth phase, POD Point is looking to position itself as Europe’s leader in charging points.
POD Point has already manufactured and sold 27,000 charging points in the UK since its foundation in 2009.
The company has formed partnerships with Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Heathrow and Gatwick airports and recently completed new deals with Barratt Homes, Holiday Extra and Hyundai.
Currently, a major concern for EV drivers 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 expected outcomes of 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 £9m.
The development comes amid calls for greener cars in the UK. Government policy is to create clean air zones in at least five UK cities by 2020.