JET Charge seals $72m in funding for EV charger rollout backed by French investor Mirova

Melbourne-based JET Charge has been backed by French investment group Mirova in a $72 million capital raise that will drive expansion of the company’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Australia.

Mirova, a global investment group that is focused on sustainability, joins existing shareholders the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, with an investment managed by Virescent Ventures, RACV and Kilara Capital - all of which participated in the latest funding round.

JET Charge, which this year completed the rollout of EV charging hardware at 244 Toyota dealerships across Australia, plans to use the fresh capital to support the next stage of the region’s transition to electric vehicles and accelerate the deployment of EV infrastructure at scale.

Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, has more than $47 billion in assets under management with the JET Charge investment aligning with its MET6 (Mirova Energy Transition 6) investment fund’s goal of financing infrastructure critical for the decarbonisation of energy production and consumption in OECD countries.

JET Charge, which was founded in 2012 by Tim Washington and Ellen Liang, provides charging infrastructure for households and commercial customers in Australia and New Zealand where the company recently expanded its services.

The company says that the latest equity investment will propel JET Charge’s Charging as a Service (CaaS) offering and continue development of its proprietary technologies aimed at operating EV charging infrastructure at scale.

"JET Charge was founded on the belief that electrifying transport is key to achieving a sustainable future," says Washington, the CEO of JET Charge.

"This funding will enable us to build the scalable, accessible, and reliable infrastructure required to make EVs a practical choice for every Australian and New Zealander."

JET Charge is leveraging significant growth in the Australia's EV market which saw 98,436 new electric vehicles sold in 2023, more than double the previous year. EV sales accounted for an 8.45 per cent share of all new car sales in 2023, up from 3.81 per cent in 2022.

“This strategic capital will accelerate the rapid deployment of Charging as a Service, bolstered by the continued development of our in-house technologies, including CORE, our advanced on-site energy management system, and Illuminate, our flagship asset management platform," says Liang.

"CaaS removes the cost and complexity of operating an EV charging network, eliminating many of the upfront capital barriers by seamlessly bridging the digital and physical worlds to deliver a reliable EV charging network".

Nicolas Hayon, investment director and head of Mirova’s Singapore division sees EV infrastructure as critical to the decarbonisation of transportation and the net zero pathway.

“We are proud to support companies like JET Charge, playing an instrumental role in developing and accelerating essential charging infrastructure across Australia and New Zealand," says Haydon.

Virescent Ventures, which manages the CEFC investment in JET Charge, says the latest capital raise is an endorsement of the company’s role in supporting the EV take-up in Australia.

“It’s great to see JET Charge maintain their leadership in the EV charging and infrastructure sectors as those markets continue to grow,” says Virescent Ventures’ Ben Gust.

Emma Jenkin, partner of Kilara Capital, notes that with Mirova’s support the funding will provide JET Charge with the capital to “expedite the build out Australia’s EV charging infrastructure”.

“This is one of the key barriers to EV uptake and a critical element in Australia’s decarbonisation journey” she says.