Solving hard problems: why NP-Hard Ventures invested in eDRV.

It’s not about metrics. It’s about being massive.

In a nutshell: We’re investing in eDRV, a seed stage software platform seeking to unite a fragmented EV charging industry.

Who are eDRV?

eDRV is a platform for EV charge point operators that’s available entirely through APIs. The open platform allows for customers to build their own EV charging applications and grow their charging networks to scale.

Founded by Bhaskar Deol and Rupul Safaya in the Netherlands in 2019, the startup was one of the top 100 startups chosen in 2022 to be on the SET 100 List in the Smart Mobility category. Deol and Safaya were friends prior to founding eDRV and wanted to combine both their energy policy expertise with technological know-how to encourage mass adoption of EVs and move us towards greater decarbonization. 

Why invest in decarbonization?

With NP-Hard Ventures we’re investing in product obsessed founders, creating the building blocks of tomorrow. As our name suggests, we are looking to solve hard problems, especially if solving them would lead to the greatest social impact.

For example, our investment in Universe Energy aims to make the process of recycling batteries from EVs easier by automating their dissembling .

Decarbonization through greater EV adoption is one such problem that interests us because its difficulty has the potential to give rise to innovative solutions. These solutions that are aimed at decarbonization or advance climate tech are well worth investing in, particularly those at the intersection of infrastructure and developer tools.

When talking about decarbonization, the oft-cited cliche is how the challenge mirrors the “chicken-and-egg problem”. In other words, what comes first: the charging infrastructure or the EVs?

When one looks at the numbers of just the globally available fast chargers by year (see figure left), it appears as if charging infrastructure is rapidly increasing. On a closer look, however, very little of that is happening in the US. 

Under the current US administration, the aim is to have half of all new cars on US roads be electric by 2030. Major legislative victories like the The Inflation Reduction Act have resulted in a staggering $369 billion for clean energy investments. 

Despite this progress, charging infrastructure in the US is still lagging behind. When looking just at light duty vehicles (LDVs) the US has only 18.2 LDVs per charging station which ranks 14th in the world behind much of Europe, Oceania, India and Brazil (see figure to the right).  It’s very clear from the figures alone that it’s building out the EV charging infrastructure that is crucial to decarbonization in the US. 

eDRV has the potential to be massive

eDRV are creating a solution in a growing but increasingly fragmented market. As sales of EVs are now being forecast at 10% for 2023, a more open and consolidated EV charging ecosystem makes it easy for others to get on the electrification train. This not only preserves our planet for future generations but also makes financial sense in the long run.

We invested in Bhaskar and Rupal because they have unique market perspective, and the drive to build a massive company that can make a positive impact. In a very short time, eDRV bolted out of the gates with a global pipeline of over 7500 EV charging station locations. Enabling a variety of use cases from fleet management to solar integrated EV charging, eDRV already has an MRR in line with a fully realized business. Their subscription-based hardware-agnostic approach has already paid off through the multiple charging networks currently using their platform.

Given our focus on early-stage companies, we’re always looking at big market potential over small term gains. It’s not just about the metrics. It’s about being massive. This is about asking founders how big they can think. Can they move beyond their limiting beliefs? How big can they be? We’re constantly on the lookout for founders that have the drive and vision to chase big problems. 

Making this move to the US shows that Bhaskar and Rupul have that drive. eDRV could easily have chosen to stay in Europe and test the waters in a more mature EV charging ecosystem. Their choice to chase something bigger marks them out from the rest.

Other Investors

We’re really glad to be sharing the cap table with like-minded investors like Automotive Ventures and Connect Ventures. Let’s think massive and collaborate more broadly when it comes to solving the planet’s biggest problems.