ChargedUp, the mobile charging business based in the U.K., just closed its seed funding round with £1.2 Million, the equivalent of more than $1.5 million, according to TechCrunch.
The company’s business model is fairly similar to bike and scooter-sharing app — customer’s download the app, scan a QR code at the charging station to retrieve a battery, take the battery to charge their phones and return the battery to any ChargedUp stations in their area.
“Since launch, we have delivered over 1 million minutes of charge across the network, and our customers love the service,” CEO and Co-Founder Tilmouth said to TechCrunch. “Like the sharing scooter and bike companies, we operate a time-based model. We simply charge our users a simple price of 50p per 30 mins to charge their phones. We also make revenue from the advertising space both on our batteries and within our app.”
Tilmouth, along with Charlie Baron, Hakeem Buge and Forrest Skerman Stevenson created ChargedUp in 2017.
The batteries offer iPhone, Micro-USB and USB Type C cables with more than 250 stations across London. The ChargedUp stations are completely powered by sustainable, renewable energy.
ChargedUp has partnered with Pret-A-Manger, TFL, and Wetherspoons, along with numerous other bars and restaurants throughout London. The team plans to use the funding to scale to more than 1500 venues by mid-2019.
