ClimateLaunchpad 2017 Startup Spotlight: Go To-U

Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!

The team over at ClimateLaunchpad brought Andrea and me over to Cyprus for the epic ClimateLaunchpad Grand Final this year and we were blown away by the stretching solutions posed by the 105 startups in attendance.

To support the startups that make it into the Grand Final, the ClimateLaunchpad team has assembled an impressive lineup of mentors, trainers, and national leaders to help nurture their ideas, creations, and dreams from seed to fruition — watered and fed by a groundswell of energy and passion to solve the climate change crisis, especially through these annual ClimateLaunchpad events.

In this Startup Spotlight series, I have compiled a few of the startups that we connected with and interviewed over the course of the day and a half long event. This is our way of sharing the exciting work they are doing and the energy from the event. Considering that it was nearly impossible to even see all of the 105 startups in such a short time, we divided and conquered, running around like crazy people to chat up excited entrepreneurs until the sun went down … and perhaps even a bit longer.

Go To-U — Reservation-Based EV Charging + Services

We originally connected with the Go To-U team as we were planning our Cleantech Revolution Tour event in Berlin, Germany, and Wroclaw, Poland. Then Andrea and I met them in Cyprus during this ClimateLaunchpad Grand Final event. And we collaborated yet again for our recent EV charging conference in Warsaw, Poland.

The Go To-U team has built a solution that makes charging at public EV charging stations that much easier by adding the ability to reserve a charging station. The ability to lock in a location to charge makes charging one less thing to worry about on road trips or around town and allows drivers to enjoy the trip instead of worrying about whether or not the charger will be available when they get there.

The Go To-U team didn’t stop there. It added a tie-in to nearby businesses that allows plug-in vehicle drivers to book services at the same time. For example, when I drove across the United States in my EV in 2016, I regularly wanted to stop off for a meal or for a hotel. Go To-U partners with these types of businesses and more to allow drivers to book a charging station and a table at the restaurant or a room at a hotel at the same time. It’s a natural synergy that just makes sense to do in a single app.

The thinking is that much like Tesla’s service stations will provide more goods and services for EV drivers to enjoy while charging, Go To-U sees more value in the sales of goods and services purchased while charging than in the charging itself. This is where genuinely lucrative potential exists.

Gas stations do this very same thing, selling petrol as a loss leader — or at a very slim profit margin — as a means of luring customers into the convenience store to buy a coffee and a snack, items they make higher margins on.

Go To-U is based out of the Ukraine and currently has 22 kW chargers in Europe and a handful of new chargers in Thailand. For more information about the Go To-U service, to find a station near you, or to get your station online with the service, head over to the official Go To-U website after checking out our interview with CEO Nazar Shymone-Davyda and COO Lyubov Artemenko below.

Related:

Electrifying Ukraine’s Transport System — Progress & Challenges (CleanTechnica Interview)

More Oxygen With Go To-U Electric Car Charging Network

To-U EV Charging Leadership & The Fast-Changing Electric Vehicle World (CleanTechnica Interview)


Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.

Latest CleanTechnica TV Video


Advertisement
 
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.

Kyle Field

I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. As an activist investor, Kyle owns long term holdings in Tesla, Lightning eMotors, Arcimoto, and SolarEdge.

Kyle Field has 1654 posts and counting. See all posts by Kyle Field