Brisbane startup EVOS has raised $4 million as the first tranche of plans to raise $10m in a Series B.
The fresh capital once again came from existing investors, 12 months after the electric vehicle (EV) raised $5 million in a Series A.
EVOS was founded in 2020, by Marcelo Salgado, Seshan Weeratunga and Chris Crossman, and focused on fleet energy management and AC charging, designing Australian charging systems for home and work. They raised $1.7 million in a Seed round in July 2021 from Autostrada and an undisclosed ASX-listed company, with Ampol subsequently emerging as an investor.
The trio previously worked for Tritium, the troubled fast charger manufacturer that listed on the US Nasdaq, then collapsed into receivership in April.
Salgado, the CEO, said the full $10 million round, once completed, will see EVOS expand is manufacturing capability and bolster its sales and marketing teams.
“We’re ramping up the rollout of new products and software rapidly, and demand for EV charging at home is only increasing from here on out,” he said.
“Sales of EVs are up more than 30% over the same period last year and that number will increase as OEMs move further away from petrol-powered to zero emissions vehicle manufacturing.”
The startup’s key products are a Fleet Home 22 AC charger and an energy management platform that selects the ideal idle time to charge the vehicle, for example overnight in non-peak periods or in business hours. It also controls charge rate, speed and power to ensure owners can manage their energy output to reduce home charging costs.
Last year they released the 7kW SB7 charger, which can add 35km of range per hour of charging time.
“Research shows that EV owners will spend most of their charging time at home or the workplace – and we know that Australians are keen on Australian products,” Salgado said.
This year EVOS launched its Fleet Platform, an energy management solution for EV-ready business sites.
Crossman, the chief technology officer, said they set out to solve “the issue of energy”, as well charging.
“Managing and understanding energy consumption will be a challenge for fleet operators and private owners alike, but our ecosystem perfectly manages when to charge based on feed-in tariffs, when energy is cheapest and also when solar is involved,” he said.
The business has also cracked the Indian and Southeast Asian markets with support from Trade and Investment Queensland’s Go Global Export Program.
Seshan Weeratunga, the startup’s chief experience and innovation officer, said the EVOS products are easy to install, operate and manage.
“We’ve recently hired a regional head of sales to facilitate more sales abroad,” he said.
“The capital raise will help us ramp up production across the region, but our main focus is meeting the demand of Australian EV owners and fleet operators as the market here increasingly turns to zero-emissions driving.”
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