RAW Charging is to push ahead with plans to install 10,000 charging points in the next three years on the back of a successful growth capital fundraise.

RAW plans to install 10,000 charging points in the next three years on the back of the capital raise

The raise was funded by Antin Infrastructure Partners, a leading private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments, and will support RAW’s £250m EV charger installation plan.

RAW operates in the destination EV charging marketplace, which it says is underserved and high growth. It’s established a network of EV charging infrastructure assets to enable EV drivers to charge their vehicles at their destinations, typically at workplace, leisure facility or transport hub carparks.

This includes work for blue chip customers, such as Aviva investor abrdn, which RAW is providing EV charging for at 60 commercial property sites. It’s also working with Greene King to install chargers across 800 pubs and hotels, and with McArthurGlen to deploy EV chargers at its designer outlets – including the new charging hub in York, said to be the largest in the region.

RAW has also recently acquired Franklin EV Limited, adding 128 EV charging points and a further 370 managed chargers to the RAW asset base, which is expected to reach over 1,000 charging points by December 2022. The company also has a pipeline of 4,000 sites as it seeks to rapidly roll out destination charging to meet the UK public’s needs.

Bruce Galliford, CEO, RAW Charging, said: “We are delighted and excited to have found the right partner in Antin for the next stage of our development. With the fantastic growth over the last four years, thanks to the hard work of the brilliant RAW team, it is perfect timing to move on to the next stage with Antin joining us on the journey. The market for destination charging is growing and supported by policy in both the UK and Europe. We believe our business model is perfectly placed to generate captive returns for our investors from a large portfolio of EV assets and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our growth plans.”

The latest investment forms part of Antin’s wider deployment of capital in EV charging across Europe. Rodolphe Brumm and Leonardo Adami, Antin infrastructure partners, will join the Board of RAW Charging

Brumm, NextGen partner at Antin, said the investment signalled the private equity firm’s strong commitment to advancing the use of electric vehicles, contributing to reducing carbon emissions.

“We firmly believe the private sector, alongside government, will play a key role in realising the UK’s ambitious electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, which includes the aim to reach 300,000 public EV charge points by 2030. We look forward to working with RAW’s management team to help transition the UK transport sector to low carbon by the decade’s end in line with our NextGen strategy,” he outlined.