The financing round was led by BP Ventures, with participation from Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Stanley Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Oski Clean Energy Partners, Strawberry Creek Ventures, Spike Ventures, TRIREC, and others. The charging and power solutions have been designed to overcome the inefficiencies of the grid infrastructure in order to meet customer’s growing demand for rapid, cost-efficient power, without the added costs of construction, hardware installation or peak surges.
At the start of 2018, BP Ventures announced an investment in conjunction with the launch of a pilot program to deploy FreeWire’s infrastructure-light EV fast chargers at BP retail sites in the UK. In October 2018, Volvo Cars Tech Fund announced an investment in the Bay Area-based startup to support the automaker’s long-term electrification strategy.
“It is important that our initial group of investors hail from such a diverse set of industries - they collectively reflect a wide range of the energy challenges we are now in a better position to tackle” said Arcady Sosinov, CEO of FreeWire. “Their backing at this pivotal stage is rooted in a shared vision of a future with widespread transition to flexible, sustainable electrification.”
Zaki Fasihuddin, CEO of the Volvo Cars Tech Fund, added that society needs to make charging an electric car as simple as filling up the tank in a conventional vehicle, in order to support wider consumer adoption of electric cars and that the Volvo Cars Tech Fund investment in FreeWire is a firm endorsement of the company’s ambitions in this area.
“FreeWire was one of BP’s first investments in the advanced mobility space and we remain excited by their expertise and technologies” said David Gilmour, Vice President of BP Ventures. “Mobility continues to evolve, and BP is committed to remaining the fuel retailer of choice. We see FreeWire playing an important role in our varied offering and helping ensure we are well positioned to meet future demand.”
The closing of the Series A round follows the previous announcement of Stanley Ventures as an investor and the appointment of both Michael Mahan, Investment Manager at Stanley Ventures, and Chad Bown, Investment Principal at BP Ventures, to FreeWire’s Board of Directors.
The World Economic Forum defines electrification and decentralisation as key drivers of grid edge transformation. These converging forces, together with intensifying commitments to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources, are creating greater demand for flexible and sustainable power when and where it’s needed. As industries traditionally dependent on fossil fuels become increasingly electrified, FreeWire intends to continue to create scalable power solutions while mitigating expensive installation costs and site constraints.
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