News: Highline Beta invests in ChargeLab, EV charging infrastructure for everyone
The future of cars is electric. Perhaps the future of all mobility is electric. Most will agree that the use of fossil fuels and gas-powered vehicles is simply not sustainable. Auto manufacturers certainly know this as they invest heavily into electric vehicles and R&D. Predictions for EV car sales are all over the map, but some, like Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) suggest that 32% of all cars by 2040 will be electric. And the one thing every electric vehicle needs is charging. This is precisely where ChargeLab Inc. comes in.
ChargeLab provides the necessary platform and infrastructure to support ubiquitous charging. Early EV charging systems in the market were closed, only supporting a certain type of vehicle, or bundling software services with hardware in a way that’s limited to building owners. ChargeLab believes in an open system. They build hardware-agnostic software that makes any EV charger smarter, regardless of who built or installed the charger. This open approach makes the idea of installing EV chargers much more appealing for condos, office buildings, and public destinations, since they don’t have to worry about vendor lock-in or overpaying for hardware.
For consumers, ChargeLab focuses on creating a frictionless experience. User experience really matters when it comes to EV charging. Today, drivers are forced to juggle dozens of clunky mobile apps across a fragmented landscape. ChargeLab’s goal is to make EV charging as simply as plugging in and walking away.
ChargeLab connects EV chargers built by hardware manufacturers including ABB, Delta, EVBox, Lite-On, Phihong, and a dozen others. Once connected, ChargeLab’s platform helps property managers monetize EV chargers, balance energy usage, and generally ensure EV infrastructure is a profitable amenity and not cost prohibitive for building owners.
Zachary describes ChargeLab as the Android of electric vehicle charging. “We don’t build hardware, we make software for managing electric vehicle chargers. And our software can run on 4 out of 5 of the world’s most popular EV chargers. In the next decade, millions of individuals, businesses, and fleets, will switch from gasoline to electric cars. ChargeLab provides the infrastructure to power the future of transportation.”
We met ChargeLab a couple years ago, and then had an opportunity to work directly with CEO, Zachary Lefevre, and the team, through the RBC Reach pilot program accelerator. Through RBC Reach we came to appreciate the tenacity and vision that Zachary and the ChargeLab team has for making EV charging an open, accessible and amazing experience for everyone. This led to our investment in ChargeLab’s most recent round alongside Notation Capital and Urban Us. ChargeLab is currently participating in the Urban-X program, and doing a virtual Demo Day on April 21st (which you can join). If you’re interested in learning more about the company, please let us know and check out ChargeLab at https://chargelab.co.
“Highline Beta got what we were doing from the beginning. We’re a software company, but we touch assets in the real world: our platform connects EV chargers and manages the flow of real electrons to real vehicles. Highline Beta has always focused on how we can grow faster, instead of getting hung up on hypothetical obstacles that might get in our way. This makes them invaluable to us.”
— Zachary Lefevre, CEO @ ChargeLab
We’re excited about the future of EVs and believe in ChargeLab’s potential to become a key platform player in this space, driving charger installations and user growth in the market.