The young Turin-based company Reefilla has announced the closing of its first €1 million funding round. The deal combined financial and industrial capital, raised with a selective and strategic approach to accelerate the development and go-to-market of the services offered by the start-up.
The operation was led by Motor Valley Accelerator, the acceleration programme set up on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital Sgr and dedicated to start-ups developing solutions in the automotive sector, UniCredit, Fondazione di Modena, CRIT and Plug and Play, A11 Ventures, Marvik Investimenti, flyElectric (part of flyRen energy group SpA) and two Club Deals made up of a group of Italian and international private investors: Reetrust, promoted by Nash Advisory, and Wetrust, as well as a group of business angels coordinated by Stefano Mezzadri, advisor, manager and international investor.
The project
The service is based on three fundamental pillars:
- the Fillee mobile charging device, based on interchangeable batteries and entirely developed in-house, which is the most powerful and versatile mobile fast-charging solution for electric cars on the market;
- a digital platform connected to the cars via artificial intelligence that can predict the energy needs of the vehicle according to the driving style and habits of the driver or fleet;
- a logistical organisation that makes it possible to reach any vehicle anywhere in the city, even in the most complex urban parking situations. Thanks to Reefilla, it is possible to communicate the position of the car so as to delegate the start of recharging, in a contactless manner and without disturbing the driver.
Last November, the start-up won the second overall prize of Start Cup Piemonte Valle d'Aosta 2021, while in May 2022 Reefilla won the second edition of Digital Factory, an initiative promoted by Leasys and I3P.
The team's vision
The Italian start-up Reefilla was born in April 2021 from the idea of the three founders Marco Bevilacqua, Pietro Balda and Gabriele Bergoglio who, with a managerial background of more than 10 years in the automotive industry, have developed the desire to imagine a new paradigm in the context of the sustainable mobility revolution. Only a few months after its foundation, Reefilla was among the 8 start-ups selected by Motor Valley Accelerator and after the acceleration path it obtained follow-on investment.
"We imagined and built a service capable of giving back to the user the time spent worrying about having to recharge, finding a charging station, and then having to move the car when the recharge is complete," explained Marco Bevilacqua, CEO and Co-Founder of Reefilla. "All with zero impact. In fact, Fillee is an accumulator that stores solar energy during the day, thanks to the photovoltaic systems in our logistics centres, which is then 'poured' into the cars at night, with a twofold final benefit".
"The focus on the customer experience is central for us: every single aspect has been designed to operate with maximum efficiency in order to offer an impeccable service that allows you to find your car always charged with a click," explained Pietro Balda, Tech & Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of Reefilla, who added: "Let's not forget accessibility: recharging is not always an intuitive and immediate process, especially for the elderly or people with reduced mobility."
"Our goals with this round are to expand the team, to launch the service in the city of Milan in the autumn, and to continue investing in research and development on our ecosystem of solutions and services that is increasingly looking at the cities of the future," explained Gabriele Bergoglio, CFO and Co-Founder of Reefilla.
"Reefilla rides the electrification trend of the automotive industry, providing an answer to the problem of urban recharging of electric vehicles and actually opening up a new market, which is parallel to that of the charging stations," said Enrico Dente, Programme and Ventures Manager at Motor Valley Accelerator. "The team's vision and concreteness prompted us a year ago to be the first investors in Reefilla, and today we confirm our faith in the project with this follow-on to make possible the first pilot tests at scale and validate the model".
Giovanni Polidori and Federico Davini, partners of A11 Ventures and members of the investment committee, commented: "The solidity of the team, the innovative business model and the above-average execution capacity motivated our investment. In the coming years, Reefilla will be able to contribute as a leading player with innovative solutions serving the new needs of electric mobility in Italy and Europe".