Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
Volta Charging last week announced the closing of a USD 35M Series C Funding Round. The round, designed to accelerate the rapid expansion of Volta’s Electric Vehicle (EV) charging and media network, is led by the Invenergy Future Fund, with both the Invenergy Future Fund and Activate Capital assuming Series C Board seats.
This round of funding is Volta’s largest yet. Participants in Volta’s Series C round include new, as well as returning, investors from the US and Europe. GE Ventures, Orsted Venture, Nautilus Venture Partners, and Idinvest all join as new investors. Virgo Investment Group and Autotech Ventures, among others, also each increased the size of their previous investments, bringing the total now raised by Volta to more than US $60M since the Company’s founding in 2010.
Volta has developed the country’s most utilized electric vehicle charging network. By installing chargers in high-traffic locations in top media markets and partnering with advertisers to sponsor the service, Volta EV chargers are available to both drivers and real estate hosts without cost. With over 1,000 faces available for sponsorship opportunities today, Volta plans to double its network footprint by the end of 2018 by adding more stations and opening new markets. The capital investment will also allow Volta to respond to the increasing demand of real estate owners who are looking ways to monetize their assets and increase consumer dwell time. By year’s end, Volta anticipates that its network will operate nationwide in nearly all of the top 10 media markets, in addition to its initial launch market, Hawaii.
Volta helps brands meet and exceed their financial targets, as well their corporate social responsibility goals. Sponsorship of amenities, such as Volta’s charging networks, brings greater lift over traditional out of home media both in reputation and purchase intent. Volta also works closely with municipalities and industry groups with a stated commitment to emissions reduction. To date, brand and site sponsored stations have delivered over 22 million free electric miles, saving over 9 million pounds of CO2.
Scott Mercer, CEO, Volta Charging told us “This esteemed group of investors, who share our vision, are each focused on advancing energy, transportation, technology or media platforms worldwide and we are excited to benefit from these relationships as we continue to advance mobility infrastructure worldwide. With this influx of capital, we will be immediately able to respond to the respective demand from advertisers, EV drivers, and landlords as we add meaningful value to communities nationwide”.
John Tough, partner at the Invenergy Future Fund said “We gained confidence in the Volta team through their focus on execution, and applaud their insight to bring the media industry to bear to create a mobility infrastructure solution. Volta distills the surrounding complexity and accelerates the market by executing on consumer preferences that won’t change: free charging in premier convenient locations,” said We look forward to partnering with the broader investor group to help Volta meet what has become unabating demand for its differentiated and scalable model that brings real value to all stakeholders.”
Anup Jacob, Managing Director, Activate Capital said “Volta brings us an opportunity to elegantly advance the intersection of two of our most important sectors – energy and transportation,” said “By leveraging sponsorship to underwrite free charging and infrastructure, Volta has created a unique model to accelerate the future of mobility.”
Volta claims to be changing the dynamic of mobility infrastructure. Volta Charging has developed North America’s most utilized electric vehicle (EV) charging network. By installing chargers in high-traffic locations in top media markets and partnering with brands to sponsor the service, Volta EV chargers are available to both drivers and real estate hosts free of cost. Volta also works closely with municipalities and industry groups with a stated commitment to emissions reduction. Volta currently operates citywide EV charging networks in more than 50 municipalities. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York City.
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