Home EV charging startup Kerbo Charge has won investment from angel investor Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den. The money will be used to help roll out its through-pavement EV charging channel across the UK.

The team went face to face with Dragons Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and Steven Bartlett in the hopes of receiving additional funding and the Dragons’ support to expand their business internationally.

Co-founders Michael Goulden and Ben Whitaker devised the idea for their charging channel after becoming frustrated with the lack of suitable charging options for EV owners without a driveway. Currently, these households need to trail a cable over the pavement which can create a tripping hazard for anyone using the walkway or travel to a public charging point, which is 5x to 10x more expensive and time-consuming.

The through-pavement charging channel created by Kerbo Charge solves this issue. Residents insert their charging cable into the channel and the self-closing lid snaps shut behind, eliminating the trip hazard. The channel is designed with the UK’s ‘wonky’ pavements in mind and can flex with the pavement surface during installation, ensuring a flush finish without the need for surrounding pavement reinstatement works. The company claims it will typically save customers around 1400 pounds a year compared to solely using fast public chargers.

Kerbo Charge said an estimated 40% of the UK population do not have access to a driveway, meaning that EV owners either need to trail a cable over the pavement in the front of their house – creating a trip hazard – or use public chargers, which typically cost around £23 more per charge than topping up at home.

Meaden invested 50.000 pounds to help the business make the product available across the UK. The company currently has live trials in eight local authorities with many more in the pipeline.“Local authorities have an impending massive problem that is going to cost a fortune,” Meaden said on the show. “This is a very cost-effective way of dealing with this driving issue and there is a lot of cash around for solving these problems.”

Whitaker said: “The Dragons understand just how challenging it can be to introduce a new product and change people’s minds about what is possible – we hope that with their help we can persuade local authorities to approve more installations, and terraced home-owners that there are now solutions to let them charge their EV’s cheaply at home so that they make the switch to clean vehicles more quickly.”

The episode aired on the 15th of February and is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.