- FreeWire Technologies recently announced it raised $125 million in Series D funding. These are the details.
FreeWire Technologies – a leader in ultrafast electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy management solutions – announced it has raised $125 million in new capital. And the financing consists of a Senior Convertible Note provided exclusively by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Financial Management, and a concurrent equity raise with institutional and strategic investors like bp ventures, Riverstone Holdings, Octave Ventures, Gly Capital Management, Blue Bear Capital, and Daishin Private Equity amongst others.
The new funding will be used to support FreeWire’s ambitious growth plans as the company accelerates commercial deployments of its battery-integrated ultrafast EV charging technology and increases manufacturing capacity to meet growing global customer demand, including high priority markets such as the UK, Canada, Japan, and Australia/New Zealand. And the proceeds will also be used to expand the company’s talent pool and invest in R&D to drive continued innovation of its product roadmap and unique energy management platform.
FreeWire had recently broken ground on a new 66,000-square-foot R&D facility in Newark, California to develop and manufacture new ultrafast charging and energy storage product offerings. And the construction of the facility is underway and will be fully operational by Summer 2022, putting FreeWire at the center of the San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation technology hub.
FreeWire’s proprietary battery-integrated charging technology Boost Charger solves grid constraints by packaging charging infrastructure, grid infrastructure, and energy storage into a fully-integrated compact solution. And with its hardware offering, FreeWire is also evolving its software platform, which is expected to result in multiple, recurring high-margin revenue streams over the medium- and longer term.
This year, the company expects to roll out AMP Pro, which will provide distributed energy management services that unlock the inherent value of the battery system through load shifting, demand charge management, resiliency, etc., followed by Charging as a Service next year. FreeWire’s long-term objective is to offer a turnkey retail energy service, where it owns, manages, and optimizes the customer’s utility meter and bill to unlock opportunities to further monetize its integrated battery system.
The chargers paired with energy storage will optimize low-cost renewable energy sources and provide additional grid resiliency, allowing EVs to recharge and support critical facilities when power is out. FreeWire’s integrated system enables its customers to deploy ultrafast charging and power solutions more quickly – all while easing the strain on the electric grid, with the potential to unlock an entirely new category of distributed energy services.
FreeWire installed nearly 5 MWh of energy storage capacity through battery-integrated charging to date, with over 30 MWh booked. And FreeWire aims to deploy over 5,000 ultrafast battery-integrated chargers by 2025.
KEY QUOTES:
“BlackRock’s investment in FreeWire Technologies underscores our confidence in the company’s innovative product suite and its ability to accelerate EV adoption while mitigating the strain on the electric grid.”
– Steven Karpel, Managing Director, Fundamental Fixed Income at BlackRock
“The most significant barrier to mass EV adoption is the electric grid, which simply can’t meet the power demand required for ultrafast charging to sustainably and cost-effectively electrify our transportation system. FreeWire’s fully-integrated Boost Charger breaks down this barrier by combining battery technology, power conversion technology, and software to enable utilities, retailers, fleets, and site-owners across the U.S. to scale up ultrafast EV charging quickly without requiring expensive and time-consuming utility upgrades. In addition to lowering total operating costs, FreeWire’s integrated battery enables distributed energy services that would otherwise not have existed.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to scale up our differentiated business and technology with the proceeds from this funding round.”
– Arcady Sosinov, Founder and CEO of FreeWire Technologies
