Utrecht-based Eco–Movement has formally signed off on its series A funding round.
The round is co-led by Dow Jones, the business intelligence and news provider, and Dutch venture fund Ponooc. Also taking part are two of its existing investors: Bridford Group and Arches Capital.
The funds have been set aside for Eco-Movement’s global expansion strategy, bringing on more partnership deals and furthering its core EV charging data product.
According to the International Energy Agency around 13% of new car purchases this year will go to electric models. EV sales are already running at record highs, having seen almost two-fold sales growth last year. However not everything is honey and roses for this rapidly maturing industry.
There’s growing pains too. For one, the cost sell has got harder this year as sharp rises in electricity prices have fed into the rate paid by EV motorists at roadside recharging points, making long-haul EV journeys less cost competitive than they were previously.
Competition in the EV charging sector is growing. Eco-Movement’s projections estimate that by 2027 some 3 million chargers will be available to EV owners globally.
While the number of EV charging players is increasing, the UX is pretty fragmented and the capabilities of each charging point vary, meaning the customer could be left disappointed.
With its “independent B2B data platform,” Eco-Movement wants to aggregate EV charging data from operators of public-access chargers in both Europe and North America.
Right now, Eco-Movement’s customers include Tesla, TomTom, Shell, Apple and HERE. The data system is designed to be a single source of truth for optimising EV charger navigation data and the charging experience, tracking EV users, operating costs, target demographics and operating figures.
Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones & Co, said: “Our investment in Eco–Movement is a strong complement to our existing expertise in the renewable energy and sustainability arena.
“The world’s energy transition is a key issue of our time. Dow Jones’s commitment to increasing world–leading expertise in this arena will help our customers make informed decisions as they navigate major energy–related changes in the world as well as their own energy transitions.”
Eco-Movement’s CEO Roderick van den Berg added: “We acknowledge that the relevance of our data is
increasing every day.
“With the support of both Ponooc and Dow Jones, we will further improve our product to help charge point operators with their visibility on mobile and in–car maps and support the EV industry with the best data possible.”
