The $3.3 million Pre-Series A investment round for Beep, a business providing an internet of things (IoT) transaction platform, has closed.
Granite Asia (formerly GGV Capital), Farquhar VC, SUTD Venture Holdings, Wing Vasiksiri, and newcomer M7 Ace Neo, an M7 Company, spearheaded the oversubscribed fundraising effort..
It stated that this is consistent with its plan to expand into Southeast Asia, beginning in Malaysia and Thailand. The company claims that Southeast Asia has a huge demand for electric cars (EVs), with an 894 percent year-over-year increase in EV sales in the region.
Beep’s initial approach to regional development is to build out Voltality’s charging infrastructure in Malaysia and Thailand. Notably, Voltality’s platform is currently operational with its initial partners in Malaysia and is scheduled to debut in Thailand during the third quarter of 2024.
Voltality has already inked contracts in Thailand with EVme, the nation’s largest and fastest-growing EV rental and purchasing platform, WHA Group, a leading developer of fully integrated logistics, industrial estates, power and utilities, and digital solutions, and Sharge and Evolt, two of the top five charging operators in the country.
Through the arrangement, thousands of cars will be able to connect locally to over 1,600 charging stations, and the network will soon continue to expand. Several charging operators in Malaysia have signed contracts, notably KINETA, a subsidiary of Sime Darby Berhad.
Major participant in Malaysia’s EV market, KINETA and ChargEV formed a cooperation in May to spur innovation in EV charging and roaming. In order to integrate Beep’s “KINETA Charge” application with Voltality’s technology, the two companies teamed.
Read also- India-Based Meragi has Secured $9.1 Million in Funding
Additionally, Voltality has agreements in place with mobility partners to provide cross-border and local charging connectivity by the second half of 2024. In preparation for its second phase in 2025, Beep is also considering growing into additional regional markets, including Vietnam, Indonesia, and others.
Ming Maa, the former president of Grab Group, will also join Beep as an advisor to aid in navigating the company’s ongoing regional expansion. Maa brings extensive operational expertise in market development and relationships within the challenging context of South-East Asia.
“As EV adoption continues to surge, seamless access to charging infrastructure is an increasingly crucial requirement for both consumers and businesses making the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, yet connectivity remains fragmented across the region, Voltality aims to empower both charging operators and mobility providers, allowing them to embed connectivity across different charging stations directly inside their own platforms, with an added option for app-less payments through credit cards and QR codes, so drivers need only one interface to charge wherever they go,” said Kristoffer Jacek Soh, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Beep.
Voltality’s overall charging network now has over 5000 charging stations, up from 1350 in 2023, thanks to new partners in Thailand and Malaysia. This represents a four-fold increase in coverage in less than a year and keeps Voltality’s eRoaming service (VoltNet) as the biggest permission-based eRoaming network in the area.
Regarding business, Voltality and Grab recently inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together to assist the establishment of an integrated charging platform for Voltality’s driver-partners in the area as well as to increase the number of charging operators onboarded onto the network.
Read also- Austraila-Based Cyprium has Partnered with Glencore to Restart Nifty Copper mine in Australia
Additionally, a closed-door trial program has begun in Singapore with a limited group of driver partners. Regarding customers, Voltality and Huawei Consumer Cloud Service inked a Memorandum of Understanding.
As a result, charging station locations across Southeast Asia will be more accurate when utilising Huawei’s Petal Maps and “Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) for Car.” Consequently, EV users of Petal Maps and HMS will be provided with a more precise “smart” route planner that takes into account the battery life of their vehicle.
From our strong foundation established in Singapore, we found a common need for the same capabilities abroad, and we are now ready to cement our presence in Thailand, Malaysia and beyond, We are very excited to witness the next stage in Beep’s journey as we aim to help accelerate the adoption of EVs through Voltality,” he added.
About Beep
Beep, leverage IOT to construct common networks in fragmented ecosystems to improve data interoperability and user experiences. They power over 33 million transactions across thousands of touchpoints in 5 countries from Singapore.
