The best of three worlds. Exited. Then Series A and B.
How ABL's charging hardware, N-ERGIE's energy expertise and our software became one seamless B2B charging platform — which raised venture capital after we exited.
- Venture
- reev
- Case
- Built, exited, funded
01Intro
Intro
In 2018, e-mobility was turning from a niche into a growth market. Companies wanted to offer charging to employees and guests — and ran straight into a wall: infrastructure, management and regulation-compliant billing, with no integrated solution.
Two partners from Franconia saw the opening. ABL, then a family-owned maker of charging hardware, and N-ERGIE, Nuremberg's municipal utility. Both CEOs wanted a position in the e-mobility value chain. Neither had the software to get there.
02Situation
Two strong partners, one missing piece
A hardware maker alone can't run an enterprise charging platform. A utility alone can't either. What was missing was the layer in between: software that integrates into corporate IT, manages the chargers and bills correctly.
At the same time, both brought what no software startup had: ABL mature charging hardware, N-ERGIE deep knowledge of grid, energy and billing — and real access to customers. Connect that with the right software, and you offer something no competitor can build alone.
Both partners wanted a company, not a pilot — built outside their own structures, with its own team and its own customers. That's where mantro came in.
Hardware, energy, software: only together do they make a product.
03Approach
Our job
Step 01 / 04
Validation in six months
More than 50 customer interviews, willingness-to-pay tests and a competitive analysis. The result was clear: strong demand for an integrated B2B charging offer — and a business model to match.
Step 02 / 04
Three worlds, one company
After validation, ABL, N-ERGIE and mantro founded the company together: charging hardware, energy and software under one roof — all three with their own capital and entrepreneurial responsibility.
Step 03 / 04
Hardware and software, seamlessly integrated
ABL chargers and the reev platform as one integrated bundle: install, manage, bill — all from a single source. That's what made reev relevant in the market so quickly.
Step 04 / 04
Product, team, first customers
We built the platform out of Munich and Zagreb, with enterprise-grade IT integration as the core USP. We recruited the founding team, set up go-to-market and won the first paying customers within about a year. Partnering with electrical installers became the channel that actually reached the buyers.
04Outcome
What reev achieved
- R—01
Series A and B
After mantro's exit, reev raised a Series A and a Series B from external investors.
- R—02
A standalone company
reev runs on its own — not as a project of its founding partners, but as a company with its own team, customers and investors.
- R—03
Clean exit in 2020
ABL took over mantro's stake — reev continued as a standalone company.
05Learnings
Learnings
- 01
Build the channel, not just the product
The partnership with electrical installers was the game changer. The best platform is worthless if it doesn't reach the buyer.
- 02
Integration beats components
Hardware and software, perfectly matched — the Apple principle for charging infrastructure. The bundles created real value and made reev one of the players that mattered.
- 03
Align ambition before structure
A joint venture gives clear ownership from day one. The more partners, the earlier they need one shared growth case.
Get in touch
If you want to stress-test an idea, unblock an initiative, or simply see whether we're the right partner, let's talk. You can book a straight-to-the-point session with our CEO Manni, or leave us a message.
- Address
- Zielstattstr. 19
81379 München - hello@mantro.net