LONDON: Good Energy Group Plc, the 100% renewable electricity supplier and innovative energy services provider, has exercised its right to increase its equity stake in Zap-Map’s parent company, Next Green Car Ltd (NGCL). Following the transaction, Good Energy will have a 50.1% majority stake in NGCL.

Zap-Map is the go-to app for the UK’s fast growing 300,000 electric vehicle (EV) drivers – planning routes, identifying charge points, checking their availability, and sharing power. With more than 250,000 app downloads and 100,000 registered users, Zap-Map is used by a significant amount of the fully electric EV market.

Both the number of EV drivers in the Zap-Map community and the number of charge points in its network have been increasing rapidly, which enhances the breadth and quality of the available data. By actively logging the status and availability of the public charging network, Zap-Map provides crucial insights on individual users charging experience and requirements.

The Good Energy Board believes that the increased investment in Zap-Map has a compelling strategic and commercial rationale. Zap-Map holds a market leading position in the UK, with both the large majority of EV drivers and network operators on their platform.

Accelerating the use of EVs is crucial to helping achieve a zero-carbon Britain, and a key part of government strategy. The investment in Zap-Map aligns Good Energy with a platform for the energy sharing economy which is at the forefront of EV market growth.

Technology and digitalisation are core to Good Energy’s future growth plans. The investment in the UK’s leading EV mapping platform is accelerating the company’s shift into the EV market and will allow Good Energy to leverage a number of existing and future products and services for customers of both Good Energy and Zap-Map.

There are planned launches for a number of innovative products and services in 2020, including:

• An interoperable payment solution for EV drivers and charge point operators, providing EV drivers with simple, single point of access to a range of public charging networks through the Zap-Map app;
• A data insights platform, providing unique Insights drawn from a rich database and long-standing experience combined into a server-based platform; and
• Significantly increased in-car functionality for EV drivers through partnerships with auto manufacturers, critical to the user experience and encouraging adoption.

Good Energy will continue to work closely with Zap – Map to ensure the delivery of these innovative products and services, including senior advisory support to accelerate the implementation of the strategy. Zap-Map will continue to benefit from the scale and resources supported by Good Energy, whilst leveraging the expertise within Good Energy on innovative technology solutions.

As per the announcement dated 5 March 2019, the transaction was structured so that the initial 12.9% minority equity investment could increase to 50.1% through the exercise of a convertible loan. Good Energy has taken up its right to exercise the convertible loan, resulting in a majority stake.

Total initial consideration for the 50.1% investment via the conversion is £1.08 million. This rises to a maximum of £1.80 million including deferred consideration, which is aligned with product and financial milestones through to December 2021.

Juliet Davenport, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Good Energy, said: “The opportunity for Zap-Map to play an important role in the green economic recovery is obvious.  With electric vehicles playing a key role in the future government strategy, and commitments to phase out petrol and diesel new vehicle by 2030, Zap-Map is perfectly placed to take advantage of future growth in the EV marketplace.  For Good Energy the strategic investment brings synergies across our new propositions including One Point, our business EV proposition and One Home our strategic development for householders.  We are really excited take the next step in supporting Zap-Map on its strategic journey.”

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of Zap-Map, said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Good Energy, particularly as we look to launch of number of innovative products. Despite the battery electric vehicle market taking record market share, we remain at a critical moment for the electric vehicle market, as Government and businesses look to provide the products and services for drivers to encourage adoption of EVs. This investment ensures that Zap-Map will remain at the forefront of the EV market delivering products which will make charging simple for both drivers and businesses.”