Why we invested in Watto
Future of transportation
Early Game Ventures invested in Watto, the company building a network of ultra-fast charging stations for electric vehicles in Central and Southern Europe. We plan to follow up on our investment and grow Watto into a technological backbone of the new electro-mobility industry — a perfect illustration of our Infrastructure for innovation thesis.
What we see now happening in the fast-changing automotive industry is the overlapping of two very different paradigms: the combustion engines of the old times and the electric cars of the future.
The best example of this overlapping is the iconic hybrid model Toyota Prius. But we notice this overlapping when it comes to charging infrastructure as well. Most of the projects and solutions announced in the market are trying to make everybody happy, such as placing electric charging points inside gas stations.
When the first cars started replacing horses and carriages a century ago, they did not install gas pumps in the former stables. Gas stations were born as a natural solution for feeding the new breed of horsepower machines.
It is our belief that the overlapping will only last for several years. The same would happen with the half-baked solutions of this transition time.
What Watto brings new is a full-hearted concept: they are building and operating ultra-fast charging stations placed at the intersection of the power grid with high-intensity traffic routes. Watto’s charging stations are designed to service personal electric cars as well as commercial fleets, the electric buses, and trucks of tomorrow. The big vision is to make possible long-distance driving for electric vehicles in the emerging countries of Europe.
We bought into Watto’s unapologetic approach and their courage to compete with giants for a share of the future.
We made a small bet today and are ready to double down when the time comes. We believe that Watto has the potential to turn into a unicorn. A fully electric one, not a hybrid.
