ChargePoint acquires ViriCiti & has.to.be

In Europe, the US charging provider ChargePoint has acquired electric bus and commercial vehicle management provider ViriCiti for around 75 million euros. This should allow ChargePoint to accelerate the electrification of fleets. After acquiring has.to.be last month for around 250 million euros, this is ChargePoint’s second major acquisition in Europe within a few weeks.

+ + Kindly see our update below + +

Charge Point says that ViriCiti‘s team, customers and technology will be integrated into ChargePoint’s ongoing operations. ViriCiti says it is the market leader in monitoring and fleet systems for all-electric buses in Europe and North America. The company’s telematics software can also manage mixed fleets for all powertrains (electric, hybrid, hydrogen and diesel) and their energy infrastructure. This can maximize operating times and minimize operating costs.

ChargePoint CEO Pasquale Romano says that with ViriCiti’s vehicle management capabilities in their portfolio, ChargePoint can offer more functionality to electric bus and commercial fleet operators while remaining open to integration with existing telematics systems.

ViriCiti was founded in 2012 and today employs more than 50 people in the Netherlands and the United States. The company manages 3,500 vehicles from 150 fleet operators in Europe and North America, which can be charged at 2,500 charging points. Customers include, for example, BVG (Berlin public transport services) in Germany, multinational operators such as Arriva and Keolis, and bus operators in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Toronto.

The other, even larger European acquisition ChargePoint has undertaken in the last few months was of the Austrian eMobility software specialist has.to.be for around 250 million euros. The US company said the acquisition should strengthen its “leadership position in the industry and accelerate e-mobility developments across Europe.” Subject to all regulatory approvals, the acquisition is expected to close this year. With its fast-growing electric mobility market, Europe is a sure growth market for the American company.

has-to-be’s software runs on more than 40,000 directly connected charging points, such as all of Ionity’s charging stations, as well as those of Aral, GP Joule, Audi and Porsche. In addition, more than 250,000 charging points are connected via roaming. ChargePoint says it will benefit in particular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from the European software provider.

Volkswagen joined has-to-be in July 2019, when it acquired about a quarter of the shares through its charging subsidiary Elli. At the time, has-to-be’s software was already running on many VW Group charging stations and was also used in the connection of Volkswagen’s charging infrastructure.

Update 7 October 2021:

ChargePoint has now completed the acquisition of Austrian eMobility software specialist has-to-be. “Today we announce our accelerating leadership position in the European EV charging market with the closing of our acquisition of has·to·be, which combined with our acquisition of ViriCiti and our existing broad portfolio of charging infrastructure solutions position ChargePoint well in commercial and fleet segments. With these acquisitions, we grew our talent pool and have state-of-the- art research and development centres across Europe,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of ChargePoint. “These key milestones further strengthen our commitment to the European EV charging market, to complement our position as a leader in EV charging in North America.”

businesswire.com (ViriCiti) businesswire.com (has.to.be), chargepoint.com (update)