Ireland-based Weev, an Electric vehicle (EV) charge point operator, announced on Tuesday, May 30, that it raised £50M (approximately €57.94M) in a fresh round of funding to address the shortage of charging infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
The investment was made by Octopus Investments, part of Octopus Group, an investment firm that claims to back people, ideas and industries that will change the world.
End-to-end EV solutions
Founded in 2022 by Dominic Kearns and Thomas O’Hagan, Weev aims to create Northern Ireland’s largest privately operated EV charging network. It installs public chargers as well as full-service EV solutions for the office and fleet.
The company chargers allow electric vehicle owners to charge in as little as 20 minutes. Weev says its network is both convenient and dependable, which are critical for EV drivers.
According to Weev, EV drivers in Northern Ireland are disproportionately underserved in terms of charging facilities. According to the Department for Transport, only 20 public charge stations per 100,000 people were present in the area, which is much fewer than the UK average of 60.
The UK government’s aim to ban the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles and vans starting in 2030 will be applicable to all parts of the country, and this discrepancy creates a window for investment in Northern Ireland’s EV charging infrastructure.
Capital utilisation
According to Philip Rainey, CEO of Weev, consumers and fleet operators are considering switching to an EV more seriously in order to realise huge financial savings and lessen their carbon impact in a world of escalating energy prices.
“We are helping to enable this switch by breaking down barriers such as range anxiety through access to convenient and reliable EV chargers,” says Rainey.
“This investment from Octopus enables a major expansion to the size and scope of the rollout we announced at launch last year. We can now increase our focus on providing more rapid and ultra-rapid charging hubs in response to growing demand from EV drivers.”
“In total, the capital will enable us to install and maintain a network of thousands of EV charging points over the next five years using locally-based teams and expertise,” adds Rainey.
The Octopus Sustainable Infrastructure Fund
The UK Infrastructure Bank provided a cornerstone investment in the Octopus Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (OSIF), a plan that was unveiled last year.
The next generation of infrastructure businesses, which are essential to achieving the size of the UK’s net zero aspirations, will receive growth funding from OSIF if they have “transformative” potential and proven technology.
Lukasz Michalak, Investment Director, Sustainable Infrastructure at Octopus, says, “OSIF is focused on investing growth capital into sustainable infrastructure businesses tackling climate change and supporting levelling-up ambitions across the UK.”
“Weev is the perfect example of the next generation of infrastructure companies doing just that. By backing Weev, we see a great opportunity to deliver a positive impact to Northern Ireland’s communities while meeting the financial objectives of the fund.”
John Flint, CEO of the UK Infrastructure Bank, adds, “We invested in the Octopus Sustainable Investment Fund with the purpose of increasing capital for the next generation of sustainable infrastructure projects across the UK.”
“The potential Weev has to scale up EV charging in Northern Ireland is significant, and we look forward to seeing the impact on decarbonising the local transport infrastructure to support the UK’s transition to net zero.”
