City chargers

History

2024: Attracting 500 million rubles of investments

On July 19, 2024, it became known that the Russian power bank rental service City Charges announced an investment of ₽500 million. These funds are planned to be used to significantly expand the network of charging stations throughout Russia.

The funding came from a group of private investors, including angel investors, according to RBC. One of the investors was the head of the company Nikolai Bogatishchev. He also announced plans to attract an additional up to ₽300 million by the end of 2024.

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City Chargers is a partner of the MTS Yurent service and is developing on the basis of GetEnergy. The network has 5 thousand charging stations, but by the end of 2024 it is planned to increase their number to 20 thousand in 120 cities of Russia. The ambitious goal of the company is to overtake the market leader "Take Charge," which now has about 30 thousand stations.

To achieve this goal, according to Bogatishchev, additional investments in the amount of ₽1 billion will be required. The company is already negotiating to raise funds with various funds and MTS, although at the moment MTS is not included in the capital of the service.

The development of a network of charging stations faces certain difficulties associated with the speed of processes among partners. If earlier such services mainly placed stations in restaurants, now new locations are being actively mastered, including in the retail sector.

About 15 companies operate in the Russian power bank rental market. Bogatishchev predicts that by the end of 2025 their number may be reduced to three to five. According to his estimates, by 2029 the market size may grow 10-12 times compared to the current level and reach ₽45 -50 billion.

In Russia, the penetration of power banks is 15-17%, while in China - more than 50% and will continue to grow. Our market is developing in a similar way as Chinese, but with a lag of two or three years, - said the head of "City Exercises."[1]

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