Uber ‘CLEAN AIR’ partner WeFlex pushes for new £60m funding round to support U.K. ride-hail drivers
Updated: Mar 6, 2022
WeFlex, an electric vehicle (EV) finance business, has appointed EY to drive its £60million fundraising efforts.
The company says funds, a mixture of debt and equity, will be utilised to support its goal to get ride-hailing drivers to switch to EVs, speeding up efforts to transition the ride-hailing industry’s shift to greener vehicles.
WeFlex is an approved Uber Clean Air Plan partner, providing EVs to private hire drivers through a flexible vehicle financing product, where the customer owns the vehicle at the end of the agreement. The Clean Air Fund is currently sitting at £145million.
As well as vehicle finance, WeFlex provide the option of short-term vehicle rental to allow ride hailing drivers to first get to grips with switching to an EV as well as insurance, vehicle servicing, PCO licensing and more.
Since inception, WeFlex has raised £2million in equity from investors, as well as debt of £27million. The new round of fund-raising announced today aims to significantly ramp up capital stocks, focused on debt and equity. The investment will support a strategic goal of reaching a 10,000-strong EV fleet by 2025, and will help save almost 300,000 tonnes of carbon – the equivalent of 29.5m gallons of diesel or 12.7m bags of household waste recycled.
Nicko Williamson, WeFlex CEO and co-founder, said: “We are passionate about accelerating the adoption of EV’s in the Ride-Hailing market. There is a huge and pressing opportunity for WeFlex to play a major part in helping the ride hailing market switch to EV’s, helped by Uber’s commitment to be a 100% EV platform in London by 2025 plus clean air zones coming in across major UK cities.
”We are raising further funding to capitalise on this opportunity, giving WeFlex the ability to scale faster as more ride hailing drivers look to make the switch to EV’s. We chose EY due to their breadth of experience, network, team and reach which we believe will help us access relevant pools of capital and partners who can help us grow the business.”
Nick Parkhouse, EY Corporate Finance Partner, said: “We are poised to drive this fundraising round, and are excited to be a part of WeFlex’s sustainability agenda, as they look to deliver much-needed EVs into London and the wider UK ride hailing market.
“The EV market will increasingly be a core element in the shift to green and to our collective mission to lower emissions in the UK. EY’s expertise in the auto leasing and wider energy transition sectors will come to the fore, and we are pleased to be supporting such a progressive and ESG-linked fund-raise.”
