Dublin start-up Nevo is on a mission to accelerate the transition to electric motoring in Ireland by educating motorists.
“The Irish Government have put in place ambitious targets of achieving 945,000 electric vehicles on Ireland’s roads by 2030,” notes Nevo general manager Derek Reilly.
“The shift to a decarbonised motoring landscape in Ireland is not only essential to reaching net zero emissions, and Nevo is here to empower consumers to make the necessary transition.”
“The Nevo platform is the comprehensive solution that was needed to help drive towards the goals set out by the Climate Action Plan”
The latest data from SIMI show an increase of almost 80% more electric vehicle registrations in Ireland compared to this time last year. However, almost 60% of vehicles registered in 2022 are still either petrol or diesel vehicles, indicating the need for an increased number of people transitioning to sustainable motoring.
“And Nevo is here to serve that purpose, whether that be to facilitate the purchase of a vehicle, provide charging solutions, or to educate and inform the Irish public,” Reilly explained.
What is Nevo?
Nevo is Ireland’s first dedicated EV platform, offering a comprehensive range of services catering towards those who want to become informed on electric vehicle ownership, and also to those who are ready to make the switch to electric motoring.
Nevo launched earlier in 2022, and has since captured the interests of the Irish public.
“Whereas there are companies in Ireland who have decided to go down the route of offering electric vehicle charging solutions, there was no platform that offered a broadened range of services that fully empowered the Irish consumer to not only learn about electric vehicles and electric charging solutions, but also facilitated customer enquiries on vehicles.
“The Nevo platform is the comprehensive solution that was needed to help drive towards the goals set out by the Climate Action Plan.”
Drive and ambition
Nevo is a part of parent group Drive Inc, which was established in 2019 by Shane Ennis and Conor O’Boyle. The two founders and directors bring a diverse and extensive skill set that has been accumulated through their experience in other facets of the Irish motoring landscape, namely used car platform Sweep, and digital trade marketplace TradeBid.
Co-founder and CPO Shane Ennis has amassed extensive experience in the disruptive technology space that live on the edge of innovation. Having previously worked in financial and operational planning at eBay for five years, Shane then went on to co-found international audio journalism app Noa. Drive is his second endeavour to the start-up game and is applying that extensive wealth of knowledge to introduce welcome change in the Irish motoring landscape. Specialising in product and app design, data and analytics, Shane has built an equally motivated team of engineers and software developers to bring to light the ideas of Nevo.
Co-founder and chief operating officer Conor O’Boyle has an equally impressive track record in identifying and capitalising on market opportunities. Conor has previously garnered experience in the investment industry with Irish hedge fund Abbey Capital, before going on to becoming a high frequency trader with Virtu Financial. In 2018, he added to his palette of experience as he managed world-renowned snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. The wide-ranging capacity of Conor and Shane has seen Drive go from strength to strength, and the founders have now set their sights on electric mobility as their next road to conquer.
The general manager of Nevo is Derek Reilly who is passionate about e-mobility. In 2020 he launched EV Review Ireland on YouTube and it has already become Ireland’s leading EV YouTube channel. Derek is a regular EV contributor on national and local media. He has also been the chair of the recent 2021 Irish EV Summit. Before Nevo, Derek was a lead on the Global Product Solutions team at Indeed where he started in 2016. Outside of work, Derek is a committee member on the Irish EV Owners Association and he also sits on the committee for the EV Association of Northern Ireland
How to get fully charged
“The Irish start-up scene is a vibrant place right now,” says Reilly. “Lots of creative and clever founders are taking the leap across a broad spectrum of industries and it’s inspiring to see. So much to be learned from one another and given the international and culturally diverse talent pool in our cities right now, it’s no wonder we are seeing so many interesting and well organised new companies launching.”
To date Nevo has raised around €1.5m allowing it to build out its product range, sales and marketing functions, and grow full-time headcount to 25. “We are planning to raise a further €2m by the end of October with about 50% of that round currently closed,” said Reilly.
He said the biggest lessons to date revolve around people and process. “You’ve got to scale and nurture the two very carefully and at the correct pace. Hiring the right people, with the right skills and the right fit is critical, but then you’ve got to make it all click with lean, efficient processes. After all, we’re talking about early-stage companies that don’t have piles and piles of cash to burn.”
His advice to fellow founders is to focus on people, process and data. “Track absolutely every piece of data you can from day one. It’s going to take a lot of the educated guesswork out of your business when you understand it thoroughly through data from the beginning.”
