- Kerbo Charge gets £50k from Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den to expand its through-pavement EV charging channel in the UK.
- Co-founders pitch cost-effective solution for EV owners without driveways, addressing safety hazards and public charging costs.
- Meaden’s investment provides validation, connections, and industry support, propelling Kerbo Charge’s contribution to UK EV charging infrastructure.
Kerbo Charge are propelling ahead with a £50,000 investment from BBC One’s Dragons’ Den
Kerbo Charge, celebrated a victory on Dragons’ Den as environmentally conscious investor Deborah Meaden invested £50k. The funding will fuel the expansion of their innovative through-pavement EV charging channel across the UK.
Kerbo Charge co-founders, Michael Goulden and Ben Whitaker, faced down the Dragons, including Peter Jones and Sara Davies. The pair sought financial backing and strategic support to fuel their global business ambitions. Their innovative charging channel directly addresses the pressing issue faced by EV owners lacking driveways.
These households grapple with the inconvenience of trailing cables across pavements. This poses both safety hazards and the need for time-consuming trips to public charging points, which come at a higher cost. Kerbo Charge’s through-pavement channel elegantly sidesteps these challenges.
During their presentation, they made Kerbo’s niche clear, highlighting its target market, a significant 40% of the UK’s population. Of course, the intrepid pair faced the Dragons’ usual onslaught. EV driver, Touker Suleyman, had concerns over the price, which were quickly swatted away by Kerbo’s list of interested parties. Renowned petrolhead, Peter Jones, disliked the stationary nature of the charging cable, although the same can be said for almost any charge point.
Deborah Meaden underscored the solution’s cost-effectiveness for local authorities grappling with imminent challenges. This confidence was only bolstered by Kerbo’s six impending local authority trials, as well as its live trial in Milton Keynes.
Meaden enjoyed the benefits for local authorities and the potential for personal profits through the Kerbo app.
Deborah Meaden
“The only question from me: is this the answer?”
Goulden and Whitaker dove into the positive feedback from their trials. They explained that one hybrid user now saves 65 litres of petrol a week. Results like that are hard to argue with. As far as local authorities are concerned, it’s a relatively cheap, easy, and unintrusive solution to what’s soon to become a major challenge.
The other Dragons were put off by either a lack of experience with electric vehicles, or Kerbo Charge’s young status as a business. Meaden, however, plugged into her sustainability background and saw the future of the endeavour. In the end, the pair chose between Suleyman and Meaden, eventually sealing the deal with Meaden for a £50,000 investment for 6% of the business.
Realistically, the £50,000 investment is a sweetener to the deal. The real benefit is the force of a famous Dragon, along with the massive industry leads, connections, and validity that brings. Also, a good showing on a popular BBC One show can’t hurt.
After the appearance, Kerbo Charge is poised to elevate its through-pavement charging solution to new heights. Shortly, it will contribute significantly to the accessibility and convenience of EV charging infrastructure across the UK.
