27 Oct 2017

ICON Corporate Finance has secured funding from Japanese and German giants, Mitsui and Daimler for The Mobility House (TMH) who span a bridge between the automotive industry and the energy sector. Based in Munich, TMH provide intelligent vehicle charging solutions to the world’s leading automobile manufacturers from its locations in Munich, Zurich and San Francisco.

The services offered by TMH include innovative electric vehicle charging infrastructure solutions and services for car manufacturers and end consumers. This includes the installation of over 5,000 charging stations at the homes of electric vehicle owners. More than ten leading car brands already work successfully with TMH in more than 10 countries worldwide. TMH's service portfolio is rounded off by supplementary consultation and implementation of mobility, energy and infrastructure projects, which all contribute to driving forward the company's vision of a future without emissions.

The funding from Daimler AG follows a commercial business relationships that has existed since 2012. Since then, TMH has offered Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle and plug-in hybrids as well as fleet operators a full service around the individual charging infrastructure. The two companies are also intensively cooperating in the field of stationary energy storage. In a joint venture with other partners, they recently brought the world's largest 2nd-use battery pack to the grid.

The technology allows the integration of electric vehicles into the power grid as an aggregated swarm storage of parked electric cars or as stationary storage devices from vehicle batteries. "We are working on an emission-free future. With our technology, we support the energy demand and help the electric car to break through ", says the founder and CEO of The Mobility House Thomas Raffeiner.

The vision: the connection of the vehicles to the electricity network should be usable in both directions. The e-cars only charge when the network is not overloaded. If, however, the vehicle is connected to the mains for a longer period of time, current can be fed back in order to intercept mains spikes.

Dr. Frank Spennemann, project manager for Business Innovation, the Daimler Lab for innovative business models, sees great potential in the integration of electric fleets into the power grid. "Together with Mobility House, we are working intensively on the integration of electric vehicles into the power grid. With an intelligent power-charging network, vehicles can be loaded in such a way that expensive peak loads are avoided. On the other hand, the car batteries become an ideal buffer for network stabilization and can thus also provide the fleet operator with a monetary surplus. Smart Charging solutions in the area of ​​vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-home have thus continued to keep Daimler firmly in view".

Japanese giant Mitsui also joined the round, as the investment complements Mitsui's interests in the energy sector. Mitsui has selected “Mobility” as a key growth area to focus on, and is promoting the expansion of automotive value chains, from automotive materials through to mobility and transportation services.

Through their investment, Mitsui will support the growth of TMH and strive to commercialize advanced business models by leveraging the comprehensive strengths it has accumulated through its automotive, power infrastructure, and energy trading businesses, with the aim of expanding these business models into other regions, such as the United States and Japan.

Alan Bristow, CEO of ICON Corporate Finance, who advised TMH on the fundraise, commented: “this is a break through deal for the automotive and energy sectors as the disruption in the markets continues at a pace not previously envisaged. TMH is at the forefront of creating entirely new business models spanning renewable energy, automotive and energy trading under the leadership of one of Europe’s most innovative entrepreneurs - Thomas Raffeiner. This is a hugely exciting time for the world’s global industry sectors, which are undergoing massive transformation as we head into a time of change which is helping to build a cleaner sustainable world.”