VC-backed Ubitricity sold to Shell

The deal will see Shell wholly acquire the business.

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval, but is expected to close in 2021.

Additional shareholders in the business included Heinz Dürr Invest, EDF, Next47 and Honda.

Earlybird partner Christian Nagel told Unquote that the deal came about since Ubitricity's shareholders were looking for a strategic partner to accelerate the business. However, he declined to disclose the returns made on the investment.

According to a statement, Shell intends to scale its electric vehicle charging offering following the acquisition. The acquisition is also part of the company's expansion of its low-carbon transport options for customers, the statement added, with the aim of becoming a net-zero emissions business by 2050 at the latest.

Previous funding
Earlybird first invested in Ubitricity in June 2010, backing a €1.8m funding round via Earlybird IV, which held a final close in August 2008 on €127m. The fund made investments of €1-15m, focusing on European startups with scalable technology-enabled business models.

In May 2013, IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft led a second funding round for the company, in which Earlybird also participated. IBB invested via its €52m VC Fonds Technologie Berlin, which was launched in 2004 and generally invested €1.5-3m per company, focusing on Berlin-based startups.

EDF acquired a minority stake in Ubitricity in May 2014, while Siemens invested via its corporate venture arm Next47 in November 2017.

Ubitricity raised a €20m series-C round in May 2019, backed by existing venture capital shareholders, as well as EDF and Next47, with Honda joining as a new investor.

Company
Founded in 2008, Ubitricity designs and installs electric vehicle charging points and networks. The company serves private fleet customers in Europe and has also installed public charging points in existing on-street infrastructure in Germany and France. The company has also partnered with Siemens in the UK since 2017 to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure in London, where the company has 2,700 charging points. Ubitricity employs 69 staff, according to LinkedIn, with offices in London and Berlin.

People
Ubitricity – Lex Hartman (CEO).
Earlybird Venture Capital – Christian Nagel (partner).
IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft – Stephan Schulze (investment director).
Shell – István Kapitány (executive vice-president of Shell Global Mobility).

Advisers
Vendor – Drake Star (corporate finance).

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