Leveraging its largest-ever funding round, SWTCH aims to accelerate deployment of EV charging solutions in multi-residential buildings

SWTCH Energy has secured US$27.2 million ($37.4 million) in its Series B funding round.

Global impact investor Blue Earth Capital led the funding round, along with Alantra’s Energy Transition Fund, Klima. Other investors in the Series B round include GIGA Investments Corp. and return investor Active Impact Investments.

SWTCH is a Toronto-based EV charging and management solutions provider for multi-residential buildings (MURBs).

“As right-to-charge laws and energy efficiency mandates continue to gain traction, SWTCH is in a unique position to help real estate customers close this gap,” says Carter Li, CEO of SWTCH.

“With this new capital, we will scale our EV charging solutions to ensure no building, and no driver, is left behind in the EV future.”

With the fresh capital, Toronto-based SWTCH is planning to use machine learning and artificial intelligence to enhance SWTCH Control — a tool that lets building owners see how much electricity their building is using and how much is available for EV charging — as well as its other EV charging solutions.

Enhancing EV charging solutions

This new funding round is SWTCH’s largest to date. In 2020, SWTCH raised $1.1 million in a seed round. It followed that with a US$13-million Series A round in 2022. Notably, SWTCH reports that its charging network has expanded tenfold since securing Series A funding two years ago.

In a statement, Kayode Akinola, Blue Earth Capital’s head of private equity, says, “Electrification and supporting the energy transition is a key investment theme for our climate growth strategy, and an important component of this is the continued expansion of EV infrastructure. The multifamily space served by SWTCH offers a valuable market opportunity to grow our clean energy economy.”

In Canada, this growth opportunity is evident in the surging demand for charging solutions in MURBs across the country. That demand is driven by the popularity of EVs and governments updating building codes to ensure EV-readiness at residential properties.

It’s a market SWTCH targets with several turnkey EV charging solutions to address the multifaceted challenges of EV charging deployment in new and aging MURBs.

Using SWTCH Control, for example, property owners can set up and handle up to ten times more EV chargers. This avoids expensive upgrades and effectively future-proofs properties, according to SWTCH.

Additionally, the company is looking to integrate with software solutions to create a seamless, user-friendly experience for EV drivers.

“We’re always looking for ways to push our solutions forward to make EV charging a no-brainer,” says Li.

SWTCH attending EV & Charging Expo

Li will be a panelist at Electric Autonomy’s EV & Charging Expo 2024, happening May 1-2 in Toronto, in a Day 2 session called “Smart grids and smarter EV charging: Understanding V1G, V2G and VPP opportunities.”

SWTCH is also a major Expo sponsor and exhibitor. For more details and to purchase Expo passes, visit here.