Bridge Bank closed a $10 million line of credit, in October, to fuel the growth of Xeal, a technology company that’s making electric vehicle (EV) charging more reliable and accessible for building developers and owners in addition to EV owners.
The line of credit from Bridge Bank complements the $40 million Series B round, closed in October, led by Keyframe Capital, with additional participation from follow-on investors ArcTern Ventures, Moderne Ventures, Ramez Naam and participating investors Nexus Labs, Wind Ventures and Alpaca VC.
“Xeal’s charging solution is an important step forward to support the electric vehicle industry boom,” Laurence Brent, assistant vice president in the technology banking group at Bridge Bank, said. “Xeal has an exciting business proposition that solves several challenges: the expectation that real estate developers and owners will install EV chargers, the need for EV owners to find accessible, reliable charging stations and the opportunity to help slow climate change through increased use of electric vehicles.”
The global EV market size is projected to grow from 8.2 million vehicles in 2022 to 39.2 million by 2030, an annual growth rate of 21.7%, according to analysis by MarketsandMarkets. As more EVs hit the road, real estate developers are seeking ways to create the infrastructure necessary to meet tenant demand. Xeal’s patent-pending technology, Apollo, is the first EV charging solution with a distributed, ledger-based technology that enables Xeal to deploy smart EV charging stations anywhere with 100% self-reliance for all smart functions, ensuring that a driver never becomes stranded by a charger that is inoperable due to central networking issues.
“Xeal has developed relationships with more than 80 major real estate companies, including Lincoln Property Company, NRP Group, Stoneweg and Harrison Street,” Alexander (Zander) Isaacson, co-founder and CEO at Xeal, said. “This financing from Bridge Bank will strengthen Xeal’s funding position and support our work to continue to build new relationships in the commercial real estate industry and deliver EV power nationwide.”
