Australia’s electric car sharing platform, evee, has charged out of the gates during the private round of its Birchal equity crowdfunding raise – hitting its minimum target of $300,000 in 124 minutes from 92 investors. The interest from enthusiasts was so huge, Birchal convinced CEO and Founder, Slava Kozlovskii to open the offering to the public 24 hours early.
Why was the crowdfunding raise highly successful?
As of 10:00 am Wednesday 29 March, $727,291 has been raised in approx. 24 hours, from 261 investors, giving an average investment of $2,788 – which is substantially higher than an average Birchal campaign of $1,600. The unique Aussie owned platform has amassed more than 8,000 happy customers since it first launched and has EV cars located in every major city and town in Australia. It has also seen 100% growth every year for the past three years.
The platform has become so successful in Australia it is now rolling out globally, with evee New Zealand just launching, and evee UK and Europe on the roadmap. The platform decided to undertake a Birchal raise to help realise its global aspirations. The money raised will be used to expand the business and bring exciting new platform features and services to life.
“We are blown away by the support thrown behind our company – Australia’s only car sharing platform devoted exclusively to electric cars,” said Slava Kozlovskii, Founder of evee.
“I’ve been looking at the names of our top investors and they are a mix of people we know who own an electric car, or customers who regularly use our platform to hire EVs. We also have a lot of people who have held notable positions in companies such as Canva and Atlassian – so it is really exciting to have people with connections to the high-profile tech industry throwing their full support behind us,” Slava Kozlovskii further commented.
Lee Torrens, former Marketplace Director and now Advisor to Canva, was one of the raise’s top investors. He is also the new owner of a Tesla model Y: “I didn’t invest in the early days of the internet nor did I invest in the early days of smartphones. So I don’t want to miss the opportunity of investing in the early days of electric cars. I like evee because it’s building a solid foundation to dominate the crowd rental portion of the EV market transformation.”
What makes evee a unique market player?
“Our clients can earn up to $2,000 per month by renting out their electric vehicle to travellers and people who are dipping their toe in the EV market for the first time,” Kozlovskii added.
“They love that each rental is covered by comprehensive car insurance. There are no out-of-pocket expenses if an incident happens during a rental. Furthermore, if their car does have to go in for repair they will be given a replacement car that’s guaranteed to be electric, until they have their car returned good as new! No one else offers that service,” Kozlovskii added.
“On the flipside, renters love using evee because many of them are taking their first tentative steps to buying their own electric car. Often, they don’t know whether it’s right for them, or don’t know which car is perfectly suited to them. They love asking lots of questions and our host owners are happy to answer them. All the latest model electric cars you can buy in Australia are available to rent on our platform – Tesla, Polestar, BYD, Kia, Mercedes, MG etc.”
“If you go to Tesla, you’re only given a 20-minute test drive and that never gives you a full understanding of how great these vehicles are. Nothing beats taking that baby out for a whole weekend, and really experiencing the joys of owning an electric car. evee allows you to do that. You can experience charging your car at a supercharging station, at home and so much more than you can ever experience in a 20-minute test drive,” Kozlovskii added.
While other car share platforms also rent electric cars, these companies still provide mostly petrol-consuming rides. evee’s sole focus means it has won the trust of consumers and is in the pole position to expand and ride the wave of EV ownership in Australia, which has seen an almost twofold increase in EV ownership from 2021 to 2022. “The car rental market in Australia is worth $2bn annually with EVs being the fastest growing niche,” Kozlovskii said.
“Through the trust we have built we are able to capitalise on every step of a customer’s EV journey. Our Birchal equity crowdfunding raise will help us expand the business, onboard more vehicles and deliver an unforgettable customer experience. evee is poised to become a full-service offering for the EV inclined and we want anyone who is passionate about this space to share in our good fortunes by becoming part owners in our business.”
“Our slick platform lets drivers book their next electric adventure by vehicle type, location, date, and budget with delivery options often available to the airport or your hotel. Commission is only charged on completed bookings, otherwise the platform is free for hosts to access and it’s easy to list their cars, and it takes only moments for renters to hire them – driving the EV revolution further with every booking,” Slava Kozlovskii concluded.
