Energytech | Everty | Carola Jonas
Growing up in Germany, Carola moved to Australia 15 years ago. From a young age she was very interested in psychology. Working in Marketing in Advertising early in her career helped her to get an understanding of people’s behavior and how to solve their problems. Although Marketing was fun, it wasn’t fulfilling. A growing interest in the environment led Carola to work in roles in business and government involved with sustainability and clean energy. Today, Carola is the Founder and CEO of Everty - a software business based in Australia that is focused on enabling businesses to operate charging stations and attract EV drivers to their location. We were lucky enough to speak to Carola where she shared some insights about her journey, and passion to make a difference to the future of our planet by accelerating the take up of Electric Vehicles – EVs.
Carola Jonas Everty Founder
Carola, what gave you the idea for Everty?
I worked in CleanTech for a company that provides products like micro-inverters for solar systems, battery storage and smart home energy management software. I was surprised to see so few electric cars in Australia in 2016. Why would Aussies, who have the highest per-capita uptake of rooftop solar, not also have an electric car they can charge from the energy their own home generates, rather than paying for fuel at a petrol station?
After a little investigation, I found there was a lack of EV charging infrastructure, something I am now passionate about helping to fix. Because if there is no easy way to charge electric vehicles, the take-up of EVs will be slow and we will not reduce the damaging pollutants from fossil fuel powered vehicles.
Surely if we want to reduce the impact of cars on the environment, the Government has a role to play?
Many countries have ambitious targets and clear strategies to phase out diesel or petrol cars altogether in the next decade or two. For example, the UK government’s Road to Zero strategy addresses commercial vehicles, public transport, charging infrastructure and much more, and includes a proposal to end the sale of fossil-powered vehicles by 2035. And countries like Norway and The Netherlands have financial incentives to promote EVs.
But I am afraid that Australia is lagging much of the world in its approach to Electric Vehicles. So the market in Australia is growing relatively slowly compared to the markets in the US, China and Europe. I find this odd because we import fuel, don't make cars any more, and need to make more inroads on climate change.
So tell us a bit more about Everty - What does Everty do? Who is the solution for? What problem does it solve?
Everty is a software company providing a system that has two key components - a driver interface to find, activate and pay for EV charging; and a dashboard for charging station operators to monitor, manage and monetise the asset anywhere in the country or even in the world. The software provides features to optimise charging, how electricity is taken from the grid and supplied to the cars, and includes sophisticated reporting and analytics. Property developers, engineering firms, car park operators, corporates, universities, and fleets with EVs all use our solution. We help our customers identify and implement fit-for-purpose solutions that make it easy for them to make money and manage their charging stations, and easy for drivers to use them.
What is your ‘vision’ for your business and the industry?
Great question! I think we can’t entirely consider the ‘Electric Vehicle Industry’ as its own industry as we are seeing transportation, infrastructure and energy merging together to support EVs.
We will see a transition to wireless (induction) charging in buildings and eventually dynamic charging while we travel along streets or highways. That can only happen if infrastructure (built environment and roads) and the energy supply (grid) come together. Our vision for the future is that you almost don’t need to worry about energy to fuel your car.
I see Everty as being a central part of the journey to this new exciting future – embracing the technology so we can provide an ecosystem of applications to allow the seamless integration of accessible, smart and easy-to-use EV charging services.
Who are your key investors?
Everty is backed by a VC and two angel investor groups as well as some individual investors. We are well advanced with our product, have some deployments in market, and will soon be looking for new investors to support scaling up.
What tips would you have for budding entrepreneurs?
Starting Everty has been the most rewarding time in my professional life. Yes, building a business from the ground up is a roller coaster ride but it’s also very empowering. I am constantly amazed by how much support we get from the startup community and businesses. Creating a strong community around our business makes it a lot more fun.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Definitely in the EV and mobility sector. We have just scratched the surface of what’s possible when transportation, energy and infrastructure come together. In ten years time, we’ll not only see a lot of electric vehicles, but we’ll also be seeing vehicles that can feed energy back into the grid on a large scale. We’ll probably see robo-taxis and autonomous car applications and similar things happening to water and air transport. Car sharing will have a big role to play. I can’t wait to see the results of point to point air travel like Uber Air / Uber Elevate which will be piloted in Melbourne and other selected cities around the world.
Do you think you are treated differently as a female start-up founder?
Well, there are lots of statistics that say female founders are being treated differently, especially when it comes to VC funding and the unconscious bias amongst male-dominated VC firms. Having said that, I also do receive a lot of support from the broader startup community. In the past few years, a lot of programs have been established that focus on helping female founders.
I think the most important thing is, that as a female founder, you can’t let it get to you. It’s good to be aware to counteract any of the biases but it doesn’t stop us from doing what we are doing. I spent most of my professional career in male-dominated industries like Freight and Logistics and the CleanTech sector, so maybe I’m just not that sensitive to it (anymore) and am used to playing with the boys.
What are the one or two lessons/principles you carry with you into everything you do?
Altering behaviour, especially when it comes to climate change, can only happen in two ways - Government regulation that restricts the way people do things, or voluntary action. I am a strong believer in incentives for people to do the right thing, and see technology as an enabler to support us in making the right decisions for society and the environment. I always think about what impact my personal decisions have on others and the planet and try to do the right thing by both. That’s why I founded Everty, which allows people and organisations to make decisions for a smarter and cleaner future.
Who would have thought in the 80s what a positive impact technology can make, and especially today in times of a pandemic, it’s technology that brings us closer together and data that allows us to better react to the massive problem we are currently facing.
11eight is a specialist advisory firm helping Corporates get better results from their innovation and helping start-ups get ready to work with Corporates. Please sign up to our Newsletter and you can contact us here.
