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What’s it all about?

Martin Baart has a passion to bring solar projects to the Commercial and Industrial (C&I) sector in emerging markets. Fighting against local misconceptions about what solar can do, and bigger issues around how to fund such projects, they found a solution through crowdfunding, and transparency in all areas of the business. Martin and ecoligo have a great business and story to tell.

About our guest

Martin Baart has more than 14 years of experience in the renewable energy industry with more than 10 years in emerging markets. He started his career with a German regional municipality on grid integration of grid-scale solar PV projects. During his Masters he lived and worked in Australia for the global leader in Microgrids, Powercorp, on the technical integration of solar and wind solutions into Microgrids, mainly for remote communities, mining operations and island utilities. Moving into business development he opened up the European office for Powercorp. After successfully entering the market, he supported the management in its sale of the business to ABB. For ABB he build up the Microgrid business unit in Madrid, after which he left to join Berlin based Start-up OneShore Energy as CTO and first employee. With them he developed the East African markets and technologies suited for the risk minimization of Off-Grid Solar PPA’S. After building up the company, he left in 2015 to prepare for the foundation of ecoligo, addressing the key barrier for solar projects in emerging markets: a fully serviced and financed solution, taking away all worries from the clients. Since then, he led the business into regional hubs in Central America, West Africa and East Africa and introduced the solution also for energy efficiency projects in the markets.

Martin is a qualified Electronics Technician, has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Trier University of Applied Science, a Master of Business and Engineering from Steinbeis University in Berlin and a Global Executive Master of Business Administration from IE business school in Madrid. He also is a Certified Expert for Climate & Renewable Energy Finance from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

ecoligo provides a fully financed solar-as-a-service solution for businesses in emerging markets. With a complete digital platform for financing and delivering solar projects, ecoligo removes the barriers that prevent such projects from being realised. Supplying businesses with affordable electricity enables them to grow and boost the local economy. The solar projects are financed through the crowdinvesting platform www.ecoligo.investments, offering fixed and attractive returns to private investors. Investments start from 100€ and save tonnes of CO2 emissions, enabling impactful citizen participation in the global energy transition.

News stories discussed this week

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What’s it all about?

Having worked with EVBox for some time it was good to visit their new, highly-sustainable office space in Amsterdam, and to catch up with CEO Kristof Vereenooghe.  EV Charging infrastructure is such an important area for the success of the eMobility transition. We discuss interoperability, collaboration, the challenges faced by the Auto OEM’s and in particular the challenges of moving from start-up, to hypergrowth scale-up and running an international business where, no territory has the same policies, regulations or market dynamics.

About our guest

Kristof Vereenooghe is the CEO of EVBox, the global market leader in charging solutions for electric vehicles and related cloud services. Mr. Vereenooghe is a proven technology executive with deep SaaS-Cloud software expertise and a track record in transforming startups into key players in their industry. Before joining EVBox, Mr. Vereenooghe had a leading role within different startups that have become key players in their industry such as Bynder, LUMA Marketing Technologies and Xeikon.

EVBox is the leading global manufacturer of electric vehicle charging stations and charging management software. With over 60,000 charging points across more than 45 countries worldwide, EVBox helps electric drivers get access to charging infrastructure at any point in their journey.

Founded in 2010, EVBox made its breakthrough when the market for electric vehicles (EVs) was still in its infancy. Its founders set their hearts and eyes on a clear concept: a fully modular charging station that facilitates easy installation, maintenance upgrades, and above all, uncompromising quality and durability.

Soon, EVBox became the sole supplier of public charging infrastructure in cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Monaco. Meanwhile, EVBox played an active role in promoting Smart Charging technologies and roaming of charging infrastructure with industry partners and public organizations.

In 2017, EVBox was acquired by energy utility and global service provider ENGIE, who identified EVBox as a disruptive, leading cleantech company making a difference in the fast-growing industry of electric mobility. In 2018, EVBox acquired the ultra-fast charging station manufacturer EVTronic, adding 700 previously installed fast charging stations to EVBox’s European network.

Today, with projects running across Europe, North America, South America, and Asia, EVBox moves forward by perfecting its original recipe with a second generation of hardware and software that are easy to use, energy-efficient, scalable, and future-proof.

Kristof Vereenooghe on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristof-vereenooghe-24a4a52/

EVBox on Twitter  https://twitter.com/evbox

EVBox   https://evbox.com/

News stories discussed this week

rEVolution conference https://www.revolution19.amsterdam/

(For an exclusive EVBox 25% off tickets use this link: https://www.revolution19.amsterdam/?promo=EVBoxSocial25)

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