In some cheerful news for the Korean EV Charging makers in the week of World EV Day, which is on September 9th, Korean startup EVAR (Electric Vehicle Automatic Recharging) has attracted US $ 4.7 million or 5.5 billion won of Series A investment.
The investment round has been led by Hyundai Motor Company and DSC Investment, Schmidt, GS Global, SK Rent-a-Car, Shinhan Capital, Gentium Partners, and Samsung Venture Investment. Through this investment, EVAR plans to expand its linked businesses such as ‘subscription charging’ to solidify its position as a leading electric vehicle charging solution company in Korea.
EVAR to solve problems of multi-unit EV charging station
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the supply of electric vehicles in Korea increased by 441% from 2017 to last year, but the increase in chargers was only 322%. It stems from a residential culture centered on multi-unit dwellings. According to the National Statistical Office, apartment houses accounted for about 77.2% of all housing units in 2019. However, installing a charging station in multi-unit housing, including apartments, isn’t easy due to the narrow parking area. There are other problems, such as having vehicles parked in the charging area even after charging has been completed. EVAR is attracting attention as it can solve such issues.
EVAR has developed a self-driving automatic charging robot as part of the Samsung C.LAB program, an in-house venture program of Samsung Electronics. The startup has since been developing various types of electric vehicle chargers such as electric carts etc. EVAR’s mobile charger does not require a separate parking space. In addition, the newly developed power-sharing smart charger this year is equipped with a ‘Dynamic Load Balancing’ function that uses limited power resources by dividing it by multiple chargers, which has the effect of significantly reducing infrastructure construction costs. This means that both the charging space issue and the charging infrastructure issue can be resolved.
EVAR is currently conducting a mobile charging service demonstration project in Jeju Island, designated as a special zone for free regulation of electric vehicle charging service. In addition, it won the grand prize at the 1st technological innovation contest by Lotte E&C on August 30. Eva Lee Hoon, CEO of Eva, said, “We are delighted that Eva’s potential in the EV charging infrastructure market has been recognized by major domestic companies.”
In the company’s 2019 seed round investment, Samsung Electronics and Naver, the largest IT companies in Korea, ETRI, a national research institute, and Schmidt, an accelerator specializing in early startups, participated, followed by Hyundai Motor (electric vehicle), SK in the closed Series A investment in August. Leading companies from various fields such as car rental (mobility), Samsung C&T (construction, through Samsung Venture Investment), DSC Investment (venture capital), and Shinhan Capital (finance) participated.
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