Dutch startup Leap24 raises €15M from Meewind to expand its hyper-electric vehicle charging stations

Utrecht-based Leap24, a company that facilitates hyper charging stations for electric delivery vans and trucks, announced on Tuesday, July 26,  that it has raised €15M in a fresh round of funding. 

The company had previously raised €4.25M from Yard Energy Investments and angel investors, opening its first charging station in Almere (the Netherlands) in May, 2022.

The investor

The latest funding came from Meewind. It is a firm that invests in sustainable energy and green projects that benefit both investors and the environment. With its 12,000 private investors, the company has been a Dutch investment fund manager since 2007.

Meewind wants to contribute to the expansion of the network of fast charging stations in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK with this investment. Agreements have also been made for long-term support for growth.

What does Leap24 offer?

Founded in 2021, Leap24 believes that clean mobility should be available to everyone. The company aims to provide a network of accessible, spacious depots, and spacious charging stations for electric vehicles throughout Northwest Europe.

Leap24 believes that entrepreneurs can only make the transition to electric driving for vans and trucks successful if the continuity of their business is guaranteed. It is working on a basic network that in the future will provide the Netherlands, and ultimately North-West Europe, with easily accessible charging stations in business parks.

The company says, “We purchase green electricity from Dutch wind and solar projects. In addition, we strive for sustainable energy storage options that contribute to a stable energy network. Our charging stations are built from a modular approach, making it easy to make sustainable adjustments without waste. We strive to make the construction of our charging stations fully circular where possible.”

Leap24’s co-founders Pelle Schlichting and Ferry Bosgra are the driving forces behind the company. As co-founder of scale-up OrangeGas, Schlichting has gained a lot of experience in the world of sustainable mobility. He also has a long track record in the financial world.

Ferry Bosgra has many years of experience in the passenger transport industry and knows this market through and through. He has gained a lot of experience in the automotive sector and logistics.

Zero emissions city distribution

In 2025, 30 Dutch cities will implement a zero-emission urban distribution zone. As a result, corporate users want places where they can quickly charge their vehicles, which is a key factor in Meewind’s decision to invest in Leap24.

Niels van Heesewijk, investment manager at Meewind, says, “More and more cities want to introduce a zero-emission urban distribution zone, but that brings with it the necessary challenges. In order to realise these ambitions, both cities and companies depend to a large extent on the availability of charging infrastructure. Leap24 has now proven that they are able to build fast charging stations for business traffic in a relatively short period of time. By investing now, the participants of the Energy Transition Fund directly contribute to the expansion of the network to forty locations in the Netherlands and the first locations to open in the UK and Germany.”

Leap24 co-founder, Pelle Schlichting, says, “The zero-emission urban distribution zones are a fact, but especially in the large cities it is not feasible for many entrepreneurs to charge the delivery vans and/or trucks on their own site. The design of the LEAP24 charging stations – spacious charging stations, suitable pavement and the fact that we can quickly install an above-average number of charging stations – ensures that we are one of the few players in the Netherlands to be able to break through this chicken-and-egg problem.”

“This new investment round enables us to scale up internationally even faster and thus make an important contribution to accelerating the energy transition,” adds Schlichting.