Clean power supplier Good Energy has taken a 12.9% stake in the parent company of EV charging app Zap-Map, bolstering its nascent position in the EV sector.
And the firm has also reserved the option to take a majority stake in the firm within the next two years.
Zap-Map, which has around 70,000 monthly users, has been described as “go-to app” for EV drivers in the UK and helps consumers locate charge points, plot routes, check charger availability and, crucially for Good Energy, share power.
Good Energy said the investment reflected the evolution of the power sector towards a more localised nature, insisting it was the company’s intent to be at the forefront of that transition.
The firm expects EVs to play a “crucial role” in that development by helping enable a “new energy sharing economy”.
Electric cars charging in Milton Keynes (Image: T. Larkum)
A crucial factor in Good’s decision to take the stake in Zap-Map is the app’s ‘Zap-Home’ feature, which essentially opens up private household and business EV chargers to be used publically by other Zap-Map registered drivers. The charge point owner sets the access times and charging costs, with peer-to-peer payments able to be processed in-app.
The investment is intended to help fund further product development at Zap-Map, with the duo’s respective teams aiming to collaborate on “broader applications” for its proprietary platform.
Good is to pay a total consideration of just over £1 million for the stake in a structured deal which sees it acquire the 12.9% share for a cash consideration of £280,000. In addition, a maximum further consideration of £720,000 is to be payable upon certain product milestones and financial targets being reached by July 2020 and December 2021 respectively.
A further investment of £800,000 is to be made through secured convertible loan notes comprising three tranches. Good has the right to exercise the convertible into additional shares in Zap-Map up until the end of 2021.
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