DKV Mobility and Smartlab enter into strategic partnership
DKV Mobility, a leading platform for international mobility services, and smartlab Innovationsgesellschaft mbH (“Smartlab”), the market leader in the aggregation, administration and billing of e-mobility charging systems, are joining forces. To this end, DKV Mobility acquires a majority stake in one of the most successful tech start-ups in the field of e-mobility in recent years. This strategic partnership will enable DKV Mobility to further expand its leading role as an e-mobility SaaS platform operator.
Together with the co-shareholders Thüga Aktiengesellschaft, energie schwaben gmbh and BEB GmbH, DKV Mobility aims to accelerate further technical development and growth at Smartlab. The focus will be on expanding the number of charging points operated on Smartlab's SaaS platform, strengthening e-clearing.net as a leading roaming gateway and further developing Smartlab as an e-mobility service provider (eMSP). Thanks to this strategic partnership, DKV Mobility expands its e-mobility platform to more than 177,000 actively managed charging points, with more than 910,000 charging cards, and over 900 million kWh of processed charging current. DKV Mobility underpins its leading position in the mobility transition and offers its customers one of the largest roaming networks in Europe, with over 827,000 charging points.
Marco van Kalleveen, CEO of DKV Mobility, says: “Smartlab is one of the most dynamic and successful companies in the field of municipal charging infrastructure in Germany and looks back on an impressive development. Smartlab complements our existing platform offering with excellent solutions and allows us to provide even more customized services to our platform customers in the future. By investing in Smartlab, DKV Mobility strengthens its commitment to further advancing e-mobility in Europe.”
Dr. Mark Steffen Walcher, Managing Director of Smartlab, adds: “We are very pleased to have found a partner in DKV Mobility that has been committed to e-mobility from the very beginning and is now embodying a significant role in this industry. Especially for our customers in the municipal sector, where we are the market leader, DKV Mobility together with Smartlab is the ideal partner for the future.”
Dr. Christoph Ullmer, representative of the shareholders of Smartlab and Head of Innovations at Thüga AG, says: “With DKV Mobility, a strong partner with experience is coming on board. Together, we can successfully develop the business of Smartlab. The approximately 100 municipal utilities and regional suppliers of the Thüga Group will also benefit from an expanded and scaled offering.”
Smartlab operates one of the largest public charging networks in Germany, with more than 26,800 connected charging points. Founded in 2010, the company operates, among others, the platforms ladenetz.de and ladebusiness, which comprise an extensive cooperation network of over 275 municipal energy suppliers and more than 190 businesses from various industries. This development would not have been possible without the twelve years of trust and support of the former shareholders STAWAG and Stadtwerke Osnabrück, as well as the flexibility granted during this time. Smartlab enables the smooth operation of charging infrastructure up to the billing of end users. The company also operates the international platform e-clearing.net, one of the market leading roaming platforms in Germany and Europe.
The closing of the transaction is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025, subject to merger control approval. The partners have agreed not to disclose the details of the transaction.