The venture capital arm of oil giant Shell is leading an investment the San Francisco-based startup Ample, which describes itself as “a technology company focused on solving the energy delivery challenge for electric cars.”
Shell Ventures confirmed that it is leading a $31 million Series A round of financing in Ample. Other participants include Moore Strategic Ventures, Repsol Energy Ventures, Hemi Ventures, and TriRec.
Ample was established in 2014, and its two founders — Khaled Hassounah and John de Souza — have sold previous startups to some big buyers, including Microsoft, Symantec, and Merck.
Ample has invented an economical, rapidly deployable and widely accessible platform that delivers a full charge to any electric car in minutes. An alternative to traditional charging, Ample uses autonomous robotics and smart-battery technology, making it feasible for anyone to own an electric car regardless of driving needs, economic means, or geographic location.
“Building a scalable solution for charging electric vehicles requires a new approach to infrastructure and partners who are committed to developing electrification as the new energy downstream,” said Khaled Hassounah, CEO and co-founder of Ample.
EVs in the light – and medium duty sectors are steadily gaining market share,” said Steve McGrath, Investment Director of Shell Ventures. “Combining Ample’s technology with Shell’s existing retail network for re-fueling and our growing position in power could help us achieve our aspirations to grow a large new business in EV energy solutions.”
“We have looked deeply into the electrification ecosystem,” said James McIntyre of Moore Strategic Ventures. “We believe Ample’s proprietary robotics and battery technology solution can help solve one of the largest constraints to wide-scale adoption of electric vehicles. We are excited to partner with the company, Shell Ventures and Repsol Ventures to help make Ample’s vision a reality.”
As governments in Europe, Asia, America and other parts of the world impose tough emissions targets to meet the global climate change commitment, Ample was born out of the need for innovation to rapidly meet those goals. “As an integrated energy company, we join the growth of the electrification in the mobility sector,” said Luís Casado from Repsol, “and we’re looking forward to Ample’s near-term solution to meet Europe’s goals.”
