Germany’s HeyCharge secures €2.5 million EIC grant to scale offline EV charging across Europe

HeyCharge, a Munich-based EV charging technology company backed by BMW i Ventures, Statkraft Ventures, and Y Combinator, has been awarded a €2.5 million grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.

The grant will fund HeyCharge’s SecureCharge FLEX project, accelerating the development, certification, and large-scale piloting of the company’s patented EV charging platform across multiple European countries. HeyCharge has raised €6.3 million in total private funding to date.

“Nearly half of Europe’s population lives in apartment buildings, and most of them park underground – exactly where internet-dependent chargers fail,” says Chris Cardé, Founder and CEO of HeyCharge.“Our technology works 100% reliably even in underground garages, and because we’ve eliminated the need for communications infrastructure – the cabling, the specialist labour, the ongoing maintenance – we cut installation costs by more than 40%. That’s how you democratise home charging. And this EIC Accelerator grant will help us bring it to millions of Europeans who have been shut out of the home charging revolution.”

EU-Startups’ 2025 coverage highlights continued investment into EV charging and adjacent energy optimisation technologies across Europe.

In October, London-based Rightcharge secured €1.8 million to expand its EV fleet charging payments platform across European markets. Earlier in the year, Arnhem-based Deftpower raised €12.5 million to scale its AI-powered EV charging platform, while Brussels-based Pleevi secured €1 million to develop its AI-driven charging management solutions. Estonia’s Gridio raised €2.4 million to roll out smart EV charging and energy device integration, and Paris-based DejaBlue secured €7.2 million to advance energy optimisation solutions for the EV transition.

Together, these rounds represent approximately €25 million in disclosed funding in 2025 alone within the EV charging and energy flexibility segment.

Against this backdrop, HeyCharge’s €2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant reflects sustained public and private capital flows into technologies addressing charging reliability, cost reduction, and grid integration. W

hile many peers are focusing on AI-driven optimisation, payments infrastructure, or broader energy management, HeyCharge’s emphasis on connectivity-independent charging for multi-unit residential buildings positions it within the same structural shift towards scalable, infrastructure-light electrification solutions across Europe.

Founded in 2020, HeyCharge looks to democratise access to EV charging for every apartment dweller in Europe. The company’s SecureCharge platform reportedly eliminates the need for communications infrastructure entirely, delivering two advantages: 100% reliable charging even in underground garages, and installation costs reduced by more than 40%.

While public EV charging infrastructure has expanded rapidly, the company explains that  home and workplace charging in existing buildings remains a critical gap. Approximately 200 million Europeans live in multi-unit dwellings, and the vast majority park in underground or semi underground garages – environments with poor or non-existent mobile and Wi-Fi coverage.

Conventional EV chargers require constant internet connectivity for authentication and billing, making them unreliable in these settings and expensive to install due to the communications infrastructure they demand: network cabling, routers, specialist IT labour, and ongoing maintenance contracts.

“The EIC Accelerator is not just funding – it’s a signal from Europe’s most rigorous innovation programme that our approach to democratising EV charging is ready to scale,” said Dr Robert Lasowski, co-founder and CBDO of HeyCharge. “We’ve proven that eliminating communications infrastructure makes charging both more reliable and more affordable. Now we’re taking that from proven deployments to mass-market adoption across the continent.”

HeyCharge has already deployed its technology across more than 130 sites and 2,500 parking spaces in Germany, with over 123,000 additional spaces addressable through strategic partnerships with leading real estate operators – including Vonovia.

The €2.5 million EIC Accelerator grant will support a 24-month project to advance SecureCharge FLEX from its current technology readiness level (TRL 7) to TRL 8, including:

• Development and validation of advanced energy management features, including dynamic load management, demand response, dynamic tariffs, and bidirectional (V2G) charging capabilities
• Integration and interoperability testing with partner platforms and third-party hardware systems
• Large-scale pilot deployments in multiple European countries to validate performance in diverse building types and grid conditions
• Multi-country certification and regulatory compliance preparation for EU-wide commercial rollout
• Onboarding installers and operators across Europe through a franchise model

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