This article is a part of Poland Unpacked. Weekly intelligence for decision-makers
Polish investment fund Warsaw Equity Group (WEG) has led the financing round for the startup &Charge. The company raised a total of PLN 21 million (approximately EUR 5 million), with participation from investors including Porsche Ventures.
&Charge is a startup developing solutions for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Rather than building new charging stations, the company focuses on managing existing networks and optimizing them technologically.
– We currently cooperate with more than 40 operators and manage around 50,000 charging points across Europe. The platform processes over 30,000 infrastructure-related tickets per month and more than 60,000 user-generated signals – says Eugen Letkemann, co-founder and CEO of the company.
Although the company is not based in Poland, it has received strong capital backing from there. The startup has closed its Series A funding round worth PLN 21 million (EUR 5 million). The lead investor was Warsaw Equity Group, with participation also from EIT InnoEnergy, Redstone, and Porsche Ventures.
How is &Charge developing?
The &Charge model complements the standard backend systems used by operators, which are primarily based on technical data (such as station availability or the number of charging sessions).
– In practice, many issues – such as physical damage, occupied spaces, or restricted access – cannot be detected remotely. That is why we also collect “on-the-ground” data from EV users and service partners – explains the company’s CEO.
The platform integrates multiple data sources: proprietary data, external inputs (e.g. from Google), and infrastructure-based data. The information is filtered and transformed into concrete incidents with the support of AI, while selected cases undergo additional manual verification.
– These are then turned into incidents with AI support, and selected cases undergo additional manual verification. For urgent reports, response time ranges from 20 minutes to two hours, while resolution time depends on the complexity of the issue. The solution integrates with operators’ systems and can be directly embedded into their ongoing processes – adds Eugen Letkemann.
As he emphasizes, as infrastructure scales up, declared availability alone is no longer sufficient.
– Operators need to know what is actually happening on site – adds Eugen Letkemann.
How does &Charge make money?
&Charge operates on a hybrid revenue model that combines subscription fees with payments for the execution of specific operational services.
– In 2026, we plan to grow faster than the market, responding to rising demand from operators for improved operational quality and cost optimization. The scale of managed infrastructure is expanding rapidly – both through new clients and the continued expansion of networks among existing partners – says Eugen Letkemann.
The company’s clients include IONITY, Electra, and Allego. It is planning further expansion across Europe’s largest markets, including Poland and Romania.
Investors have backed the company
The project was previously supported by the EIT InnoEnergy fund, and the latest financing round brought in additional significant capital. The round was led by Warsaw Equity Group, bringing total funding to PLN 21 million (approximately EUR 5 million).
– Our investment decision was based on several key factors. &Charge operates in a market with very strong growth fundamentals – Europe’s EV charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly, which directly increases demand for operational solutions – comments Jakub Głowaczewski, investment lead at Warsaw Equity Group.
The second key argument was the company’s rapid growth.
– The company has achieved significant traction, growing at roughly 70% CAGR in revenue, which confirms the scalability of its model. At the same time, it effectively addresses a market gap – the lack of real visibility and control over infrastructure conditions on the operators’ side. This is confirmed by cooperation with market leaders such as IONITY, Electra, and Shell – adds Jakub Głowaczewski.
The business model is also highly scalable—revenues grow with the number of managed charging points, including within existing clients, which strengthens the organic growth component.
What are new investors in &Charge aiming for?
A representative of Warsaw Equity Group points to the key areas that investors will focus on in the company’s next stages of development.
– The most important KPIs are the pace of growth in the number of managed charging points, geographic expansion, deeper integration with operators, and further improvements in the platform’s operational efficiency. The company is approaching break-even, so the financing is intended to accelerate growth rather than cover day-to-day costs – explains Jakub Głowaczewski.
The fund assumes a multi-year investment horizon typical for the growth segment. Potential exit scenarios include, among others, an acquisition by a strategic investor or additional larger-scale financing rounds.
Investor's perspective
&Charge has potential
For us, as a company specializing in investments in the energy sector, the involvement of a financial investor such as WEG is a confirmation of &Charge’s potential.
What will the startup invest in?
&Charge plans to allocate the funds it has raised primarily to further development of its platform.
As Eugen Letkemann emphasizes, key investment areas will include risk modeling, decision intelligence, and scaling the business across European markets.
– We plan to develop functionalities related to automated prioritization of incidents and their handling, as well as deeper integration with operators’ systems. Our operational approach is based on scaling through the development of local service partnerships rather than building our own centralized network – explains the company’s CEO.
Expert's perspective
What is happening in the electric vehicle market?
The current level of infrastructure development is sufficient given the present size of the electric vehicle fleet (approximately 145,000 BEVs). However, in the coming months and years, BEV registrations are expected to grow dynamically, raising the question of whether infrastructure will keep pace with demand.
For many months, a clear trend has been visible: the number of BEVs per charging point continues to increase. In 2024, the ratio stood at 1 to 9; today it has already risen to more than 1 to 11. At the same time, challenges related to lengthy grid connection procedures remain unresolved. Another issue is the significant cost of electricity borne by operators.
In the case of a single multi-bay charging hub, monthly electricity charges can reach tens of thousands of Polish złoty – regardless of whether any vehicles are actually charging. This is a major burden, especially in a period of still relatively low demand for charging services. A strong boost for infrastructure development may come from ongoing subsidy programs for high-power charging stations and grid connections. However, the impact of these subsidies depends on proper coordination of application rounds.
The prolonged processing time for applications suggests that the first subsidized stations are unlikely to appear before 2029. Regardless of this, the number of charging points along Polish roads will continue to grow rapidly in the coming months.
Technology is also evolving – modern EV drivers are spending less and less time charging. Soon, ultra-high-power stations exceeding 1,000 kW are expected to appear along Polish roads, enabling a range of 400 km in just five minutes. That is already comparable to – or even shorter than – the time drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles spend at petrol stations.
Charging infrastructure market
As the startup’s representatives explain, the company is responding to the growing needs of electric vehicle charging station owners related to day-to-day operations. Charging infrastructure is fragmented and, in many cases, lacks on-site permanent support.
This is particularly relevant given the scale of ongoing investments in the sector. According to a 2025 report by Kearney, the electrification of road transport in Poland is expected to progress more slowly than in Western Europe in the coming years, mainly due to relatively high purchase prices of new vehicles and insufficiently developed charging infrastructure.
Kearney estimates that by 2030, only one in three new passenger cars sold in Poland will be fully electric, compared with more than half across the European Union. Five years later, however, electric vehicles are expected to account for nearly 100% of new car sales in both Poland and the EU. As a result, the share of internal combustion engine cars on European roads will fall to 53% in 2035, down from the current 88%.
Kearney experts also forecast that by 2030 the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Poland will reach nearly 1 million, compared with 120,000 in 2025. By that time, the number of EVs per charging point will exceed the EU-recommended level of 20. Currently, this ratio (EV/CP) stands at just 7.
Key Takeaways
- The development of charging infrastructure in Poland and Europe is not fully keeping pace with the rising number of electric vehicles. This creates both challenges and opportunities for companies such as &Charge. Experts point to an increasing number of EVs per charging point, high operating costs, and administrative barriers. At the same time, forecasts assume a dynamic increase in electric vehicle adoption in the coming years, which will intensify pressure to expand and improve the efficiency of charging infrastructure.
- Rapid growth of the startup &Charge, which operates in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure management segment. The company does not build new charging stations but instead focuses on optimizing the performance of existing networks. It does so through data analysis and operational incident response. It already manages around 50,000 charging points across Europe and works with more than 40 operators, confirming the scale of its operations. A high revenue growth rate of approximately 70% annually points to rising demand for such solutions.
- Growing investor interest in electromobility and technologies supporting charging infrastructure. &Charge has raised PLN 21 million (approximately EUR 5 million) in a financing round led by Warsaw Equity Group, with participation from investors including Porsche Ventures and InnoEnergy. Investors highlight strong market fundamentals and a gap in monitoring the real-time condition of charging stations. They also emphasize the scalability of the business model, which generates revenue in line with the growing number of managed charging points.