Inven Capital co-leads a $14M investment for Scottish company Ember

Ember, a Scottish company building all-electric intercity bus networks in the UK, has raised $14 million (£11 million) in a Series A round to expand across the entire country. The investment was led by the Czech VC firm Inven Capital, 2150, and AENU, with participation from Contrarian Ventures and Pale blue dot, TechCrunch reports.

• Ember was co-founded by Keith Bradbury and Pierce Glennie in Edinburgh back in 2019. The company provides all-electric, intercity bus service. Ember uses a CCS (combined charging system) EV charging system, which supports both AC and DC charging through a single plug — this is a common standard across Europe and elsewhere, meaning that they technically aren’t for Ember’s use only.
• Today, Ember counts 24 buses in operation, though it has just taken receipt of an additional 14 next-gen vehicles from Yutong, which sport an increased 563 kWh battery capable of powering 510 km of travel on a single charge — this compares to around 380 km for the previous generation bus. Currently, Ember counts a single main charging hub in Dundee, with 1,200 kW of charging capacity that is backed up by on-site wind turbines.

Investment details

• Inven Capital, a Prague-based venture capital fund investing in climate tech startups across Europe and Israel, is one of the co-leads in the round. The firm is backed by a major European energy utility ČEZ, a.s. and by the European Investment Bank (EIB), having €500 million at its disposal over two fund generations;
• 2150, a London-based venture capital firm investing in technology companies that seek to sustainably re-imagine and reshape the urban environment. 2150 is part of Urban Partners, a platform shaped around urban problem solving;
• AENU, a Berlin-based early-stage climate impact VC fund focused on Europe. AENU drives systemic transformation in venture capital towards impact, accessibility and stakeholder-alignment that contribute towards impact capitalism.
• Other participants included Contrarian Ventures and Pale blue dot.

With the fresh investment, Ember plans to expand across Scotland and the broader UK market. In addition, the startup claims it is focused on scaling the network, constantly improving EmberOS and making the passenger experience ever better.