TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SWTCH Energy Inc. has closed $13 million USD in new financing to expand its electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions to multi-family buildings across North America, with an emphasis on serving the transition to electrified transportation for market-rate and low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities. The new capital includes a $10 million USD Series A round led by the venture capital arm of Aligned Climate Capital and a $3 million USD credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank. Additional Series A investors include Landmark Management Inc., Elemental Energy, IBI Group, Active Impact Investments, and Pacific Reach.
SWTCH provides EV charging and energy management solutions that address the unique challenges of EV ownership in multi-family buildings of all kinds. SWTCH's unique approach to EV charging and energy management lowers the financial and technological barriers to EV ownership by employing cost-effective, software-based energy management solutions to multi-family buildings where electrical infrastructure hardware upgrades can be prohibitively expensive. Additionally, SWTCH's charging-as-a-service model reduces the financial barriers to providing equitable access to EV charging infrastructure, which eliminates the upfront costs and reduces the operational costs of EV charging management by incorporating clean fuel standard credits, charging infrastructure incentives, and ancillary service market participation as part of the core offering.
"SWTCH's mission is centered on realizing the social, economic, and environmental benefits of widespread EV adoption," said Carter Li, CEO of SWTCH. "We know that more than 80% of EV charging occurs at home and 30% of homes in North America are multi-family, so improving access to EV charging infrastructure in multi-family buildings is critical to enabling widespread EV adoption. With over 75% of our charging stations currently deployed in multi-family buildings, SWTCH strongly believes in the importance of providing equitable, convenient, and affordable charging access at home, where people need it the most. This round of new financing will help us accelerate our growth into these locations by expanding our ability to fund more charging-as-a-service projects in low- and moderate-income communities across North America.”
"With rising gas prices, more and more Americans are looking to purchase electric vehicles. But that means we need more charging infrastructure and we need it where people live,” said Peter Davidson, CEO of Aligned Climate Capital. "We are proud to invest in a company that makes it easier for people to go electric, save money, and be a part of the climate solution.”
“SVB is excited to support SWTCH as they scale EV charger deployments in the critical multi-family building segment,” said Graeme Millen, Managing Director at SVB Canada. “Providing creative capital to enable SWTCH’s Charging-as-a-Service model is aligned with our commitment to the Climate Tech and Sustainability sector and helping accelerate the impact of companies and founders developing and scaling game-changing technology.”
SWTCH charging systems are currently installed in 200 multi-family buildings, 50% of which are classified as low-to-moderate income. As a current cohort of the Clean Fight Program, a not-for-profit climate-tech accelerator supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New Energy Nexus, SWTCH is collaborating with other clean building technology providers to decarbonize and electrify the mass of New York’s non-luxury residential and commercial buildings, in order to generate equitable climate impacts while providing health, comfort, and savings benefits to LMI communities most impacted by the climate crisis. Under the new $2.5 billion Discretionary Grant Program for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure established by President Biden’s $7.5 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, at least 50 percent of this funding will be used for a community grant program where priority is given to projects that expand access to EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure within LMI communities.
“SWTCH was selected as one of just a handful of cohort companies from a very competitive applicant pool to participate in the Clean Fight program that’s focused on high impact solutions that bring the environmental, economic and health benefits of deep decarbonization to non-luxury buildings. After less than six months in the program, SWTCH is already working on new installations in LMI communities in NY with two different partners in The Clean Fight, in collaboration with two other participating cohort companies,” said Thatcher Bell, Program Director at The Clean Fight.
By the end of 2022, SWTCH expects to manage 5,000 charging ports in over 900 locations in all 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces, of which over 50% will be in low-to-moderate income multi-family buildings.
About SWTCH Energy Inc.
SWTCH is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with offices in Brooklyn, New York and Boston, Massachusetts. The company electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy management solutions streamline charging for drivers while optimizing usage and revenue for multi-family building operators. SWTCH is a proud member of Open Charge Alliance (OCA), OpenADR Alliance, and CharIN, basing its EV charging platform on open communication standards to ensure interoperable, scalable, and future-proof charging solutions to its clients.
About Aligned Climate Capital
Aligned Climate Capital LLC is an asset manager investing exclusively in the people, companies, and real assets that are decarbonizing the global economy. Founded in 2019, Aligned is a dynamic and mission-driven firm that believes solving climate change is a unique opportunity to generate strong financial returns, while also achieving meaningful environmental and social impact. The team works at the intersection of finance, technology, and public policy with a particular focus on ESG metrics. For more information, please visit www.AlignedClimateCapital.com.
About Silicon Valley Bank
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) helps innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides a full range of financial services and expertise to companies of all sizes in innovation centers around the world. SVB is recognized as one of the world’s best employers by Forbes, and is a member of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. In 2022, SVB committed to provide at least $5 billion by 2027 in loans, investments and other financing to support sustainability efforts and the company has set a goal to achieve carbon neutral operations by 2025. SVB’s sustainable finance commitment aims to support companies that are working to decarbonize the energy and infrastructure industries and hasten the transition to a sustainable, net zero emissions economy. Learn more at svb.com/Canada.
About The Clean Fight – New Energy Nexus
The Clean Fight is a not-for-profit clean energy accelerator designed to attract growth-stage startups to scale business in New York State. Supported by The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New Energy Nexus, this accelerator is open to companies from across the United States and around the world who are aggressively advancing ways to meet carbon reduction mandates, while boosting economic opportunity and job creation for all. www.thecleanfight.com.
