Coulomb Technologies Secures $14 Million in Series B Funding Led by Voyager Capital and Rho Ventures
Financing to Fuel Market Expansion of Networked Charging Station Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles
Campbell, Calif. – (February 1, 2010) – Coulomb Technologies, a leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging station infrastructure, today announced that it has secured $14 million in Series B funding in a round led by Voyager Capital and Rho Ventures. Fueling its expansion into the market for powering EVs, Coulomb will use the funds to expand research and development, operations capital and sales. Coulomb's expansion will also include further penetration into worldwide markets including Asia and South America. Siemens Venture Capital GmbH and Hartford Ventures, a strategic investment division of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. also participated in the round.
Since 2007, Coulomb has been the first to introduce networked charging stations for EVs. From the first installation of ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations in San Jose, Calif., in 2008, to the latest opening in Honolulu Hawaii, the ChargePoint® Network is used by EV drivers looking to quickly and safely fuel their electric vehicles. Coulomb has an established customer base in North America and Europe and is poised for massive growth to install thousands of charging stations in 2010.
Joining the board of directors are Daniel Ahn, managing director at Voyager Capital and Mark Leschly, managing partner at Rho Ventures. "We are pleased to partner with a group of high quality, experienced investors. This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth and further deploy the ChargePoint Network infrastructure that is necessary for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles," said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies.
"Coulomb is the early market leader in the race to provide EV charging infrastructure from both a software technology and market share standpoint," said Daniel Ahn, managing director at Voyager Capital. "We believe that for these reasons, Coulomb will be able to maintain a substantial, sustainable competitive advantage over time, and build a significant business in a large potential market."
Today Coulomb has more than 120 customers including McDonalds, Dell Corporation, Reliant Energy, DTE Energy and Element Hotels. Cities worldwide including San Francisco, Houston, Amsterdam, Chicago, Nashville and Bochum, Germany, now have Coulomb's charging stations installed for consumer and fleet use. The foundation for these accomplishments is the development and implementation of the ChargePoint Network powered by Coulomb's advanced networking software technology. This network of charging stations is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and provides authentication, management, and real-time control through multiple web-based portals for hosts, fleet managers, drivers and utilities.
Coulomb's proven software technology allows its utility and government customers to scale their networks up to very large numbers of stations. Coulomb also has an extensive distribution covering North America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
About Coulomb Technologies, Inc.
Coulomb Technologies is the leader in electric vehicle charging station infrastructure with networked charging stations installed in municipalities and organizations worldwide. Coulomb provides a vehicle-charging infrastructure, with an open system driver network: the ChargePoint Network (www.mychargepoint.net) provides multiple web-based portals for Hosts, Fleet managers, Drivers, and Utilities, and ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations ranging in capability from 120 Volt to 240 Volt AC charging and up to 500 Volt DC charging. For more information, please visit www.coulombtech.com and follow Coulomb on Twitter at twitter.com/coulombevi.
About Voyager Capital
Voyager Capital is a leading West Coast information technology venture firm, providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience, and connections to build successful companies. Voyager invests primarily in early stage digital media, software, wireless, clean IT, and web infrastructure companies, where the firm's domain expertise and "Go-to-Market" and "High Performance Team-Building" resources help build market-leading companies. Voyager Capital has offices in Seattle, Washington; Menlo Park, California; and Portland, Oregon. For more information please visit: www.voyagercapital.com.
About Rho Ventures
Rho Ventures has a multi-stage investing strategy focused on high-growth companies in large markets. Rho Ventures' investments span new media, healthcare, IT, communications, energy technology and other disruptive technologies. Rho Ventures brings nearly 30 years of venture experience, combined with its partners' deep sector expertise and its far-reaching network to assist each portfolio company. This approach has allowed Rho to participate in the growth of some of today's most innovative and successful companies, including Active Power, Capstone Turbine, Ciena, Compaq Computer, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, Human Genome Sciences, iVillage, MedImmune, ReachLocal, Shire Pharmaceuticals and Tacoda. Rho Ventures is currently investing from Rho Ventures VI, a $510 million fund. The firm has offices in Palo Alto, New York and Montreal, with investments across the globe. www.rho.com
About Siemens Venture Capital (SVC)
The central venture capital organization within Siemens, invests in early-stage technology companies and established growth companies, focusing on the energy, industry and healthcare sectors. In this way, SVC identifies innovative solutions from which Siemens can profit and plays a key role in Siemens' global innovation network. To date, the company has invested in more than 150 companies and 40 venture capital funds. In addition, SVC advises the German Siemens pension funds on their private equity allocation. It is in this context that SVC has launched the venture capital fund of funds Siemens Global Innovation Partners I. Siemens Venture Capital is represented in Europe, Asia and the US and is part of Siemens Financial Services.
About The Hartford
Celebrating nearly 200 years, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is an insurance-based financial services company that serves households, businesses and employees by helping to protect their assets and income from risks, and by managing wealth and retirement needs. A Fortune 500 company, The Hartford is recognized widely for its service expertise and as one of the world's most ethical companies. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com.