Exclusive: Electric vehicle fundraiser looks to put some spark into raise efforts
Electric vehicle (EV) finance business WeFlex has brought in EY to drive its £60m funding effort.
A mixture of debt and equity, the funding will be used to help hailing driving companies such as Uber to switch to EV, providing insurance, vehicle servicing and PCO licensing.
WeFlex has already raised £2m in equity from investors as well as a £27m debt, but with the incoming funding it will reach 10,000 electric vehicles by 2025.
“We are passionate about accelerating the adoption of EV’s in the ride-hailing market,” said the group’s chief executive Nicko Williamson.
“We are raising further funding to capitalise on this opportunity, giving WeFlex the ability to scale faster as more ride hailing drivers look to make the switch to EVs.
“We chose EY due to their breadth of experience, network, team and reach which we believe will help us access relevant pools of capital and partners who can help us grow the business.”
According to a 2021 report published by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, ride-hailing platforms will spearhead the global EV transition.
Uber has in fact committed to have 100 per cent of its London fleet electric by 2025, with plans to expand to US, Canadian and European cities by 2030, while Lyft set the same deadline for its operations.
“The EV market will increasingly be a core element in the shift to green and to our collective mission to lower emissions in the UK,” said Nick Parkhouse, EY’s corporate finance partner. “EY’s expertise in the auto leasing and wider energy transition sectors will come to the fore, and we are pleased to be supporting such a progressive and ESG-linked fund-raise.”