Voltpost Announces Closing of Seed Funding Round for Innovative Electric Vehicle Curbside Charging Platform
Voltpost, a climate-tech company that is democratizing access to electric vehicle charging, has successfully closed on its seed funding round. The round was led by RWE Energy Transition Investments, an investment vehicle of global renewable energy company RWE. Twynam Funds Management, Exelon Foundation, Good News Ventures, Climate Capital, and other mission aligned investors also participated in the round. Funding will be used to commercialize the Voltpost platform and rapidly deploy lamppost chargers.
As a purpose-driven organization committed to decarbonizing mobility, Voltpost is working to ensure that people across all economic backgrounds and communities have access to electric vehicle (EV) charging. This is achieved by retrofitting lampposts with the Voltpost modular and upgradable EV charging solution, a patent-pending technology that converts lampposts into EV chargers, providing convenient curbside charging access. It is a first-of-a-kind platform in the U.S. that reduces the cost, timing and physical footprint of charger deployment, while serving EV drivers living in multi-unit housing who lack dedicated parking spaces.
”Voltpost provides a scalable, reliable, and equitable solution to address the climate crisis,” said Voltpost Founder and CEO Jeff Prosserman. “This investment fuels our vision to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by making charging access as common as lampposts. We are grateful to our investors for believing in our mission so we can enable a sustainable future for people and our planet.”
“Voltpost's innovative solution addresses a significant gap in the current urban EV charging infrastructure landscape and we are excited to support the team’s mission to democratize electric vehicle charging access,” said Costas Papamantellos, Managing Director and Head of RWE Energy Transition Investments. He adds, “The Voltpost team brings significant experience in business, technology and sustainability to the table, which has helped them to forge partnerships with cities to turn lampposts into chargers. We look forward to working with Voltpost and supporting the growth and expansion of this vital technology.”
The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced that EVs could account for 30-42 million vehicles on the road by 2030. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing $7.5 billion in EV charging, and the country is on track to install 1.2 million public chargers by 2030 to meet demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Around 1 million of these charging ports are expected to be Level 2 charging, which provide convenient, low-cost charging to meet a variety of daily needs, with the remaining being faster chargers that are critical to driver confidence and longer distance travel.
The need for public chargers is particularly acute in cities, where air pollution makes the need for EVs more pressing, since a majority of drivers do not have private parking and therefore nowhere to charge an EV at home. Voltpost is actively working with cities across the country to increase access to EV chargers.
From May 2022 to March 2023, Voltpost participated in the DOT Studio, a partnership between the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Newlab. This program enabled Voltpost to pilot lamppost charging in NYC and make progress towards the DOT’s goal to install 10,000 curbside chargers. Voltpost is conducting a second pilot at the Detroit Smart Parking Lab in Michigan. This project is supported by Next Energy, Ford, Bosch, Bedrock, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The company is participating in the Plug and Play Detroit Mobility program, developing a Voltpost charging project in Chicago, plus pursuing public and private partnerships for broader deployment across the US.
“Climate change requires us to take bold, collective action,” said Sunny Elebua, Exelon’s Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “The 2c2i program is a key component of Exelon’s commitment to addressing climate change in the communities most affected, which are often also the most underserved. This program supports Voltpost and other community-based companies that are developing solutions and creating long-term economic opportunities, improving the quality of life for thousands. We’re looking forward to partnering with Voltpost to have a lasting impact on generations to come.”
About Voltpost:
Voltpost was founded in 2021 to reduce transportation emissions by accelerating the electric mobility transition. We do this by retrofitting lampposts into Voltposts, a modular and upgradable charging platform powered by a mobile app. This provides people convenient and affordable charging access while reducing the cost, timing, and footprint of chargers. Voltpost is a vision for the future of sustainable communities. Born in America. Built coast to coast. To learn more, visit: https://www.voltpost.com/.