ChargePoint Raises $240 Million For Fleet Charging & Expansion Into Europe

ChargePoint is looking to capitalize on its success to date with the close of a $240 million funding round that it plans to leverage for an expansion into fleet charging and European markets.

This is the largest round of fundraising to date and shows that investors now see electric vehicles as more than just a niche trend for environmentalists and technophiles. ChargePoint opened the funding round to increase its footprint in public chargers for passenger vehicles, to build on its success in the fleet charging space, and to continue its geographical expansion throughout North America and into Europe.

The diversity of investors in the funding round highlights a wide range of interest, but also a serious diversion of capital from investors with long histories in the ‘energy business’ aka the fossil fuel industries, into the new energy economy. The funding round was led by Quantum Energy Partners with Chevron Technology Ventures also participating in the round.

New investors in the round include a diverse smattering of interests including American Electric Power, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Chevron Technology Ventures, Clearvision, Daimler Trucks & Buses, and GIC. Existing investors include BMW i Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Linse Capital, and Siemens.

This is not just your average funding round raise but rather, it represents a monumental step forward for investment in electric vehicles that signals a broader shift of electric vehicles into the mainstream. The public is increasingly aware of electric vehicles and as more and more buyers move into electric vehicles, they are more aware of the benefit of public charging stations.

ChargePoint is leading this charge with a few major prongs of effort: an expansion from its established base in North America into Europe, with a new family of flexible DC fast charging stations, a push into the world of fleet charging, and via roaming partnerships in Canada, Europe and beyond. The funding round is not only the largest in ChargePoint’s history, it is the largest round of funding that has been raised for EV charging to date.

Funds from this round will be used to advance all these efforts and to continue to develop the innovative solutions it is bringing to customers, like queuing at charging stations.