Berlin-based Cariqa, the payments and pricing platform built specifically for electric vehicle (EV) charging, has raised €4M in an oversubscribed seed round of funding.
The investment was co-led by Anthemis and Contrarian Ventures, with participation from Earth.now, Anthemis Female Innovators Lab, Golden Egg Check and Techstars.
Marin Cauvas, Partner at Anthemis, says, “Building scalable and resilient payment infrastructure to support EV charging has been totally overlooked. Cariqa’s founding team understands the problem at a systems level, and have built the right technical foundation to fix it.”
Capital utilisation
Cariqa aims to fix the fragmented payments infrastructure holding back Europe’s EV transition.
Tamara Ciullo, CCO and co-founder at Cariqa, says, “The EV charging market is still young, and that gives us a unique chance to build it right from the ground up. Just because a fragmented and inefficient system has taken hold doesn’t mean we have to accept it.”
“EV drivers deserve transparent pricing. CPOs should be in control of their infrastructure. Together, we can create a better, fairer system without relying on unnecessary intermediaries.”
Mario La Pergola, COO and founding member, adds, “We raised this round on the strength of our team’s execution. We delivered our key pre-seed objectives on time with a lean setup. It’s now time to build on top of the existing platform.”
Cariqa will use the funds to enter more European markets, hire more people for its product and engineering teams, and work with charge point operators, vehicle makers, and fleet providers.
The company already works with several charge point operators, including Pfalzwerke, EWE Go, Qwello, Q1, and Mer. It is also bringing in more operators to support its growth.
A next-gen payment platform for EV charging
The EV charging industry operates through a complex and inefficient system that creates challenges for both operators and users. Drivers must navigate multiple apps, QR codes, and cards depending on their charging provider, while prices change unpredictably based on how payment sessions begin.
Current EV charging payments rely on legacy architecture and fragmented market arrangements. Charge point operators (CPOs) generate most utilisation through third-party apps and charging card providers that set their own pricing structures. This fragmentation results in drivers encountering up to 50 different prices at one charging station.
Many CPOs develop their own payment solutions to reduce dependency on third parties. However, each provider adding another app or card increases system fragmentation, creating bloated fees, inconsistent experiences, and a charging landscape that lacks centralised control.
Cariqa addresses this complexity by offering an integrated platform built for EV charging payments and pricing. It gives CPOs control over pricing and payments, simplifies billing, and reduces the number of integrations and failure points. Drivers get consistent pricing regardless of how they pay.
Issam Tidjani, CEO and co-founder of Cariqa, says, “Imagine walking into a supermarket and finding that the price of milk changes depending on whether you pay by cash, card, or which bank you use – no one would accept that. Yet in EV charging, this kind of pricing inconsistency is still the norm. At Cariqa, we’re rebuilding the transactional backbone of the industry to ensure consistency, transparency, and trust – making the market ready for true mass adoption.”
Cariqa’s solution provides control over pricing and payment logic, consistent visibility into user charges regardless of payment method, built-in compliance tools for tax and reporting functions, reduced operational complexity and costs, and streamlined integration processes that reduce connections and failure points by 50 per cent.
The company’s goal is to replace the current patchwork with a unified structure that supports growth, transparency, and stability in EV charging.
Stefano Bonetta, CTO and co-founder of Cariqa, adds, “By removing unnecessary intermediaries and creating a single source of truth for pricing, we reduce costs, improve transparency, and simplify interactions without surfacing underlying complexity, paving the way for a seamless and intelligent EV economy.”
Built by experts in fintech and mobility
The four-person leadership team at Cariqa combines deep expertise from the financial technology and mobility sectors. The founding group includes CEO Issam Tidjani, CTO Stefano Bonetta, CCO Tamara Ciullo, and COO Mario La Pergola, who collectively bring knowledge from companies such as HERE Technologies, Microsoft, GoCardless, and Virtuo.
Their specialised experience in payment systems, transportation technology, and automated pricing strategies enables the development of solutions for the EV charging sector’s infrastructure requirements.
