Verdane invests in managed services provider EVA Global to support the global shift to electric vehicles

Verdane, the European specialist growth equity investor, has announced a significant minority investment in EVA Global, a global leader in end-to-end managed services for EV charging. EVA Global will tap into Verdane’s significant experience from previous software and mobility space investments including EasyPark and Movimento to support its geographical and product expansion, to build out the organisation and to strengthen in-house tech development to serve customers in global markets. The investment was made by Verdane Idun I, one of Europe’s largest growth impact funds, which held its final close at EUR 300 million in December 2021.

EVA Global launched in 2017 in Finland and has since expanded to over 32 countries across Europe, Asia, and the United States, with more than 300,000 charging points serving over 1,750,000 EV drivers annually. The Company, whose clients include Digital Charging Solutions, Greenflux, Ionity, Renault and Zap-Map provides EV charging infrastructure live monitoring and uptime assurance to businesses such as network owners and charge point operators in order to optimise the EV charging experience for drivers around the world.

Based out of offices in Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany, EVA Global’s fast-growing team of more than 150 employees provide hotline services in over 27 languages and handle more than 100,000 customer service cases monthly. The Company grew its recurring revenue by over 600% during 2021. With Verdane as a growth partner, EVA Global is looking to expand its product offering and continue to develop its platform on an international scale.

Reed Snyder, investment director at Verdane, said: “Niina and Donald, and the whole team at EVA Global have already placed the Company on a promising growth track in a booming segment, and we are excited to partner with them to support the next phase of growth. Through ingenious technology development and a relentless commitment to the customer and driver experience, the company has become a leading managed services provider in e-mobility. We look forward to helping them accelerate the global transition to a transportation sector powered by clean energy.”

Niina Suuriniemi-Hopper, CEO of EVA Global, said: “We share common values with Verdane in sustainability and we look forward to working with the Verdane team on this next stage of our journey. Our mission is to accelerate the transition to cleaner energy globally and we want to be our clients’ trusted partner for charging infrastructure management and driver engagement. With Verdane as our partner, we have more resources to grow globally, and we look forward to serving our customers even more broadly.”

Donald Hopper, co-founder of EVA Global, said: “We are the first mover in a rapidly growing industry and the market is developing fast. We set out to be our clients’ voice and a trusted partner in a changing landscape and today we serve some of the largest and most forward-looking companies in the world. Ultimately, our network approach to platform, service, and infrastructure monitoring enables us to maximise the availability, reliability, and accessibility of charging infrastructure across more than 32 countries. We are the leader in Europe and this year we will expand our business to Asia and the United States.”

Verdane made the investment in EVA Global through Verdane Idun I, which closed at EUR 300 million in December 2021. Verdane Idun is classified as “Article 9” under the European Union’s Finance Disclosure Regulation and invests in sustainable tech-enabled companies that contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, concentrating on businesses focusing on the energy transition, on sustainable consumption and on resilient communities. The Fund has already made investments in Auntie, a digital provider of workplace wellbeing services, and Spond, a digital enabler of grassroot sports and physical health.

Verdane has a strong record investing in mobility businesses, with its current portfolio of mobility businesses including Bildeler.no, CAP-Group, and EasyPark.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the investment.