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Dragons’ Den success for EV charging company that trialled product in West Berkshire




An electric charging start-up has won the support of a Dragon – after being trialled in West Berkshire.

The founders of Kerbo Charge, which was introduced in three different parts of the district at the end of last year, appeared on the BBC show Dragons’ Den last Thursday (February 15).

Kerbo Charge founders Ben and Michael pitch to the Dragons. Photo by BBC.
Kerbo Charge founders Ben and Michael pitch to the Dragons. Photo by BBC.

Having gained offers from two Dragons and choosing to go with Deborah Meaden, co-founders Michael Goulden and Ben Whitaker have said the £50,000 investment will be used to help roll out their through-pavement EV charging channel across the UK.

The pair devised the idea for their charging channel after becoming frustrated with the lack of suitable charging options for electric vehicle (EV) owners without a driveway.

Currently, these households need to trail a cable over the pavement which can create a tripping hazard for anyone using the walkway or travel to a public charging point.

So the duo went face to face with Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett in the hopes of receiving additional funding and the Dragons' support to expand their business internationally.

With the Kerbo Charge solution, residents insert their charging cable into the channel and the self-closing lid snaps shut behind, eliminating the trip hazard.

They said the channel is even designed with wonky pavements in mind and doesn’t require any surrounding pavement reinstatement works.

Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden offered Kerbo Charge £50k for their EV charging cable channel . Image from deborahmeaden.com
Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden offered Kerbo Charge £50k for their EV charging cable channel . Image from deborahmeaden.com

Ms Meaden was so impressed she invested £50,000 to help the business make the product available across the UK.

On the show Ms Meaden said: “Local authorities have an impending massive problem that is going to cost a fortune…This is a very cost-effective way of dealing with this driving issue and there is a lot of cash around for solving these problems. You have a legislative drive, you have a lot of cash available. You’ve got a perfect storm.”

And the business owners said they have plans to become a big British export success story, with the goal of being in every city of the world for people who do not have off-street parking.

Mr Whitaker added: “The Dragons understand just how challenging it can be to introduce a new product and change people’s minds about what is possible – we hope that with their help we can persuade local authorities to approve more installations, and terraced home-owners that there are now solutions to let them charge their EVs cheaply at home so that they make the switch to clean vehicles more quickly.”

You can check if you’re in a coverage area to order a Kerbo Charge by clicking here.

The company currently has live trials in eight local authorities, including West Berkshire.



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