VOOL, an Estonian electric vehicle (EV) charging startup, has closed its seed investment round at €1.7 million, bringing its total funding to €4.7 million. The round was led by Specialist VC and attracted impactful angel investors, including the former President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid.
VOOL’s technology uses the existing grid three times more efficiently without causing an overload, providing reliable and cost-efficient charging for both business and private customers.
According to research from McKinsey, Europe will need at least 29 million private charging points by 2030. This represents a 77-fold increase from the estimated 375,000 charging stations available in 2021. Significant upgrades to the existing grid infrastructure will be needed to distribute electricity to these new charging stations.
VOOL, a new player from Estonia, accelerates the energy transition without the need for massive grid upgrades.
Juhan Härm, VOOL co-founder and CEO, said: “Our solution uses the existing grid three times more efficiently. Currently, your dishwasher, charger, and kettle still have access to only a fraction of the full capacity of the grid, even though the whole of Europe is connected to three phases of electricity.
“We use all three phases and automatically switch between them when needed. This way, we can offer reliable and sustainable automatic charging.”
VOOL enables maximum cost-efficiency with its software tracking electricity prices and ensures that the electric vehicle is charged at the lowest cost possible within the set timeframe. This enables drivers to save up to 90 per cent on charging costs. Plus, real-estate developers can avoid additional costs associated with infrastructure upgrades and building new charging spots.
One neat feature about VOOL’s chargers is that they don’t look like a charger. While they have a rugged interior, the exterior is offered in subtle metal, wood or plastic.
Kersti Kaljulaid, former President of Estonia, said: “I invest in companies that operate in a sector I understand and create real things for which there is a market. I do not dare to support solutions that are still trying to find their problem to solve, but there is no such concern with VOOL.
“The problem – how to get the increasing amounts of energy we need from the plug – is certainly real. You just have to offer better solutions than your competitors.
“We can build rougher power grids to satisfy the increasing demand, but that would be unsustainable. It is better to find a way to best use the already existing main fuse. That is what VOOL does. To be honest, it is such a simple solution that I am surprised this had not yet been invented.”
With the funding secured, VOOL plans to ramp up the production of its chargers and expand its reach into new European markets. The company is on track to install 20,000 charging stations by the end of 2023.
