CHARGEUNITY
Your own public charging station for the electric car
An important factor in the changeover to an electric car is the charging infrastructure. If a private charging facility is not feasible (no private parking space for the car or not enough grid power), public charging points must be used.
In many places, municipal utilities only install charging points at highly frequented locations. This leaves large gaps in the charging infrastructure network and prevents citizens from switching to electromobility.
How did you get together as a team?
We, Niklas and Carl, both graduated from high school together in 2015 and have remained good friends ever since. With CHARGEUNITY, we want to be part of the transport and energy transition and make it easy and attractive for our fellow citizens to switch to an electric car.
Niklas developed the business idea during his trial studies in the automotive industry. He then started working at TankE GmbH and gained his first knowledge of the industry. In order to realize this idea, he approached Carl, who in the meantime had completed a bachelor's degree in business administration with a focus on marketing management and had worked at several start-ups in the areas of marketing and sales.
We realized that our skills complemented each other perfectly and decided to found CHARGEUNITY.
How did you come up with your idea?
As described above, Niklas developed the idea during his trial studies. He realized that for many car drivers, the lack of public charging infrastructure was or is an obstacle to switching to an electric car. He therefore came up with the idea of involving private individuals (or small businesses) in the charging infrastructure expansion.
What are you studying/working or what have you studied?
Niklas:
2015 - 2018: Apprenticeship as an automotive mechatronics technician at the Autohaus Jacob Fleischhauer
2018 - 2019: Bachelor of Arts in Crafts Management at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences for SMEs
2019 - 2020: Master craftsman in the automotive trade at the Cologne Chamber of Crafts
2020 - 2022: Employee of TankE GmbH
Carl:
2017 - 2020: Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at the Rheinische Fachhochschule Cologne
2019 - 2021: Employee of Plakatquadrat GmbH
2021 - 2022: Employee of the Amazing Brands Group GmbH
Detailed description
CHARGEUNITY is the first company to enable an investment in a public charging station for electric cars. As the owner, our customer (B2B or B2C) not only uses its charging station itself, but also makes it accessible to its entire environment and neighborhood. By selling electricity to other electric car drivers, they amortize their initial investment and build up an additional income in the long term.
With our service, we take away our customers' dependence on providers of public charging infrastructure and turn them into providers of public charging facilities themselves. Our full service package covers all responsibilities both during the installation (on public space) and during the operation of the charging stations.
What has Gateway ESC helped you with?
The Gateway has already helped us in many areas, from developing our business plan and setting up an initial marketing and sales strategy to building a network in Cologne and beyond. We are very grateful to the Gateway!
