Pod Point has launched a crowdfunding campaign to boost its EV charging network.

Hosted on the Seedrs platform, the campaign seeks to raise £1.2 million.

Achieving its funding goals will represent one of the largest ever private crowdfunding campaigns in the UK and will help to fund the expansion of Pod Point’s electric charging point network across the country.

Rather than seeking funds from traditional routes, the company is turning to the crowd in order to attract people with a passion and interest in electric vehicles and who recognise the sector's huge growth potential.  In doing so it hopes to build a passionate community that is both emotionally and financially involved in the success of the company.

The campaign represents a rare opportunity to help further advance the electric car industry, which thanks to the launch of a growing number of practical, affordable and desirable EVs such as Tesla, has begun to boom in recent years. In the UK, January to October 2014 there has been a 264 per cent year on year increase in plug-in EV sales. Pod Point's growing network of 1,300 charging bays across the UK is a key enabler of this growth.

Now in its sixth year, Pod Point achieved a £4.5m turnover last financial year. The business has grown 130 per cent in 2014 and has a 27 per cent market share in the UK. It has shipped over 17,000 points to over 14 countries, making it one of the largest producers of EV charge points in the world.

Erik Fairbairn, CEO and founder of Pod Point, said: “We’re hugely excited about the prospect of recruiting an active and enthused community, who are passionate about the next century’s way of powering vehicles. This is a rare and exciting financial opportunity to be part of the growth of an established business, at the forefront of an industry with huge, and inevitable growth potential.

Fairbairn continued: “We have already provided over six million miles of electric vehicle motoring to our customers, and our business has always been made possible through the collaboration of other stakeholders. Now, with the help of the wider crowd we can ensure there’s a POD Point solution wherever EV drivers park for more than an hour, be it at home, at work, or in city centres.”

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