EV charging challenger Ivygo puts the Sydney market in its sights

Peer-to-peer electric vehicle (EV) charging network Ivygo aims to build Sydney’s biggest EV charging network by June next year. Its long-term goal is to make the most of a currently under-used existing network of 100,000 private EV chargers around the country. 

“Our forecast is to reach 500 hosts and 1000 active guests by mid-next year, at which point we will be the biggest charging network in Sydney,” says founder Julie Perrissel.

According to Ivygo’s numbers, the Australian EV charging station market is expected to grow at a 31% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach around US$650 million by 2027. Ivygo aims to capture 20% of the local market by 2027.

The intention is to sign up 4,000 EV charging hosts to the Ivygo app in 2025, with a view to breaking even in 2026 with 5,000 hosts signed up to the app, making a booking of two hours on average a week. This equates to 3% of all private chargers in Australia and 3% of all EV owners. 

By 2027, the aim is for one in every five private chargers in Australia to be on Ivygo and 30% of EV drivers to be using Ivygo. 

The startup, which was a very competitive finalist in the final instalment of SmartCompany’s the Pitch for 2024, has quickly gathered momentum since it was founded in April 2024 by Perrissel and chief technology officer, Sumit Gole. The pair is rolling out beta testing in Sydney to onboard 40 hosts onto the Ivygo platform, with a view to officially launch in February 2025.

The way the technology works, hosts are able to add their private EV charger to the Ivygo app, set the price they want to charge for guests to access their charger, and choose when they want to make it available. Then, the charger is available for guests to book.

While there have been similar networks launched in the past, Perrissel says the difference with Ivygo – named for Ivy’s ability to grow and spread – is residential EV chargers, as well as business EV chargers located at cafes and restaurants and many other places, will be part of the network.

Perrissel is running pilots with EV chargers located at destinations near Sydney, such as those on the NSW central coast and Hunter Valley, and is already talking to existing EV network operators, such as NRMA, about being part of Ivygo.

“We’ll use the data that we get from beta testing to decide which opportunities to pursue. I’m big on making data-driven decisions,” she says.

Perrissel is targeting two markets. There’s the group of people who have a charger at home who want to earn money from it when it’s not being used. Then there’s the more altruistic group who want to share their chargers to do their bit for the planet. 

Ivygo employs two software developers, has the benefit of five advisers, and is pre-revenue. Perrissel and Gole are not yet taking a salary and so far the business has been bootstrapped. 

To bring in some cash, the Ivygo team is seeking expressions of interest in a SAFE note through FB Ventures. Potential investors have so far indicated they are willing to put forward $70,000 of a potential $300,000 lick of funding from this avenue, with the object of using these funds for beta testing. A crowdfunding or seed funding round is on the cards for 2025.

There are similar models to Ivygo in other markets and Perrissel has been able to connect with these businesses and learn from them. For instance, she has been able to draw on their learnings about how to deal with objections from potential hosts worried about the security aspect of allowing other people to use their charger or park in their spot.

Overall, Perrissel is expecting a big year for her startup in 2025 and many other people are too.

“We have the right team and I’m getting lots of interest, so I’m not the only one with a big vision for what Ivygo could become,” she says.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.