Coulomb nets $15 million in funding for EV charging infrastructure
Coulomb Technologies, which makes electric vehicle charging station infrastructure, on Wednesday announced that it secured $15 million in Series C funding.
The money will be used to continue development for its ChargePoint Network, which uses software for real-time management and control of EV charging (whether utility, fleet manager or consumer) through a web-based portal.
It was first introduced in 2008 and now numbers more than 850 stations (and about 200 customers) worldwide.
The funds will also be used to build out the company's customer support and sales teams.
As electric vehicles gear up to go mainstream, an infrastructure -- either in the home or in public -- is necessary to handle it.
The company's technology, in turn, is starting to pick up steam. Earlier this year, the company announced partnerships with Leviton, Siemens and Aker Wade to distribute and market equipment built for the network.
To date, New York City, Amsterdam, Sydney, Dublin, Detroit and Orlando have installed Coulomb systems for consumer and fleet use.
Moreover, the U.S. Dept. of Energy gave the company funding to provide 4,600 free home and public charging stations in nine areas of the country: Austin, Texas; Detroit; Los Angeles; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Sacramento, Calif.; the San Jose and San Francisco Bay Area; Bellevue and Redmond, Wash.; and Washington, D.C.
The company has also landed partnerships with Ford, Chevrolet and Smart USA.
Increasing sales have attracted investors, too: Harbor Pacific Capital, LS Cable and LS Industrial Systems recently joined existing investors Rho Ventures, Voyager Capital, Siemens Venture Capital and Hartford Ventures.
A year ago, we visited Coulomb's Campbell, Calif. headquarters to speak with CEO Richard Lowenthal about his company's future. Here's the video:
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This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com