London, UK – August 2021: Bonnet has received a £920k ($1.3m) total funding for the business; £850k in an equity financing round led by Ascension Ventures with investors from Imperial College London and APX, and winning an additional £70k grant from Innovate UK and OZEV.
Co-founders, Patrick Reich and Eliot Makabu launched Bonnet, the EV charging platform simplifying payments, in October 2019. The app gives drivers 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, rolling over what they don’t use into the next month.
The funding supports the growth of the ten-strong team at Bonnet as well as expanding the platform’s chargepoint offering and partnerships with network operators. The co-founders are rapidly scaling and updating their software to provide drivers with access and information on a wide range of public charging points. Since the launch, Bonnet has aggregated charging points in 1,400 locations across the UK and aims to have integrated with 70% UK chargepoints 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.”
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