Go Eve: EV charging start-up wins UCD’s 2021 Start-Up of the Year
Posted 1 December 2021
Electric vehicle charging start-up Go Eve has won this year's UCD Start-Up of the Year Award after being declared overall winner of the 2021 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme.
A joint UCD and Imperial College London start-up, the company is developing a system to roll out electric charging facilities across multiple car parking spots at a lower cost than current costs.
This patent-pending ‘DockChain’ technology for charging at scale was initially developed by researchers led by Professor Robert Shorten at the UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering before it was further advanced by him and his team following his move to Imperial.
This 'DockChain' allows multiple parking spaces to be rapidly electrified from one base power source with a daisy chain of inexpensive and simple charging points.
The technology can significantly reduce the costs involved with charging large numbers of electric vehicles.
(opens in a new window)Go Eve was founded by Hugh Sheehy, who completed the UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, John Goodbody, Professor Robert Shorten, Dr Pietro Ferraro and Andrew Cullen.
“We are truly honoured to have won the 2021 UCD Start-up of the Year Award. Our vision at Go Eve is to make every parking space capable of charging an EV using the DockChain technology,” said Hugh Sheehy, Go Eve CEO.
“The technology has the potential to open up a whole number of use-cases, especially where large volumes of EVs are parked, such as for car rental fleet operators, large destination car parks in hotels and office buildings. Many other applications are being examined, from municipal parking to advanced Vehicle-to-Grid solutions.
“We currently plan to run three pilot programmes with three customers during 2022 and we are now seeking to secure seed investment of €3 million to support these pilot programmes, to support further product development and design and team expansion.”
He added: “I would like to acknowledge the fantastic support and encouragement provided by NovaUCD, all the VentureLaunch programme facilitators, and the other VentureLaunch participants through their invaluable feedback and support throughout the programme.”
Tom Flanagan, Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, NovaUCD said: "Given the importance of climate action it is fantastic to see Go Eve which is developing an innovative technological solution in the area of sustainability win this year's programme.
“We are also delighted to be working in collaboration with our colleagues in Imperial College London to commercialise this exciting DockChain technology. It has the potential to make a significant impact on how EVs are charged."
The UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme aims to equip participants with the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be required to work as part of a team leading a new commercial venture.
On completion of the programme the expectation is that participating new ventures will have developed a commercially viable business plan.
In addition to the 2021 UCD Start-up of the Year Award, Go Eve receives a cheque for €10,000 sponsored by AIB, a professional services package to the value of €10,000 sponsored by Bryan Maguire Business Consulting and Deloitte and incubation space at NovaUCD to the value of €12,000.
The 2021 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme evaluation panel, which selected the overall winner following pitches by this year's eight finalists, was chaired by Dr Helen McBreen, Investment Director, Atlantic Bridge.
The other members of the panel were; Denis Dudley, AIB; Caroline Gaynor, Lightstone Ventures; Dr Sharon O’Kane, LivaNova and a NovaUCD Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and John O’Sullivan, ACT Venture Capital.
The other participants on this year’s programme in addition to Go Eve were, Blood Brothers, Eofis, FeetAI, giyst, La Casa, Nightleaf and PEARlabs.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)
