Berlin-based JUCR, a provider of electric vehicle charging solutions, announced on Wednesday that it has raised €6.2M in a Seed round of funding. The investment came from Vector Venture Capital and existing investors 2bX and German Media Pool (GMPVC).
Additionally, JUCR also raised €25M in debt funding to fund its own charging parks. The startup already closed its first pre-Seed funding of €1.5M in February 2022. The startup’s total raised capital comes to almost €33M.
Uwe Gerlinger, MD of Vector Venture Capital, says, “Many people are reluctant to buy an electric car when it comes to buying a new vehicle. In large parts, this is due to the lack of a sufficiently developed charging infrastructure. We are very impressed with the technical capabilities that JUCR has to offer on both the software and hardware side. In addition, the company has a clear vision of how to fill the gaps in the European EV charging network.”
Capital utilisation
JUCR says it will use the funds to further develop its own software and hardware and to introduce JUCR’s own charging stations to the European market.
Richard Birich, co-founder and CEO of JUCR, says, “We are pleased to have found such a strong partner as Vector Venture Capital to make our vision become reality. While finding a suitable investor, we met interest from many venture capital funds but chose Vector primarily for its technical expertise. We are also proud that existing investors participated in this round and take this as a strong endorsement of the quality work we have accomplished over the last eight months.”
According to JUCR, one of the major obstacles in expanding the current charging infrastructure is the high amount of unreliable and non-future-proof charging stations that are used most of the time. As such, JUCR is concentrating on AC charging points since they are easier to install and less expensive to produce.
The startup has also created its own charging standard called JCPP (JUCR Charge Point Protocol), which enables innovations like bidirectional charging, Plug-n-Charge, and over-the-air updates.
JUCR co-founder and CTO for hardware, Lukas Puls, says, “The final breakthrough in e-mobility will only be possible with better scalability of the charging infrastructure. With a strong focus on vertical integration, JUCR is building the first fully in-house designed charging solution that can be scaled globally.”
Access to the largest charging network in Europe
Founded in 2020 by Richard Birich, Max Grollmann and Lukas Puls, JUCR claims to provide access to the densest charging network for electric cars in Europe. The startup has also developed its own hardware solution for charging electric cars, which is now being brought to market.
By 2025, JUCR aims to establish its own pan-European charging network with at least 100,000 charging stations. Currently, the startup enables access to 330,000 charging points for electric cars across Europe.
Drivers of electric cars have previously had to rely on several suppliers with various payment methods and access modalities. This is where JUCR looks to make a difference. The startup unites all the providers in a single app. It also provides set monthly membership prices so that users won’t incur any unexpected fees.
Grollmann says, “Based on the current market situation with all kinds of outdated technology, there is an excellent opportunity for JUCR when it comes to shaping the charging infrastructure of the future. Especially in a sector that is going to grow many times over in the coming years, we should put all resources into a reliable and scalable ecosystem.”
