The Electric Car Scheme, a British start-up focused on EV salary sacrifice, has attracted a new round of funding within its first year after showing 500% growth.

Thom Groot, co-founder and CEO of The Electric Car Scheme

The London-based business has grown its customer base five-fold since January, by offering employees the opportunity to save 30 to 60% on electric car leases – all at no cost to the employer.

A new round of investment in the company has attracted £2.5m from venture capital funds and top Angels.

The funds will enable the company to further drive its growth trajectory, providing employees with easy and more affordable access to an electric car through their employers, using the salary sacrifice mechanism.

Electric cars through the scheme are now available across hundreds of companies, with many employees stating that this scheme was vital in their decision to go electric rather than buying a polluting petrol or diesel car. The company estimates it has reduced as many harmful emissions as one would planting more than 100,000 trees.

Thom Groot, co-founder and CEO, said: “Across the hundreds of companies who have signed up so far, only one employee had already switched to electric cars. Every other person would have bought or leased a polluting petrol or diesel car instead, adding to the UK’s emissions for years to come.

“The consistent feedback we get is that the scheme is the crucial difference between going electric and sticking with fossil fuel cars.”

The new funding will allow the company to continue growing the team, invest in technology and expand its reach.

Manuel Anthunes, investor at Triple Point Ventures, commented: “Thom and the team at The Electric Car Scheme are making huge strides helping UK businesses decarbonise – and offer an attractive perk to their employees. As a nation we need to do all we can to reach net-zero, but all too often the paths to do this are cost-prohibitive and complex to navigate.

“The Electric Car Scheme shows this does not always have to be the case. We’re delighted to be involved and help the scheme grow.”