Summary
We are excited to announce our investment in Kwetta, a New Zealand-based business commercialising a novel solution for ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure. Kwetta’s Prime technology enables fast, scalable, and grid-efficient charging, addressing the growing demand for EV infrastructure while reducing grid constraints and connection timelines. This investment is part of Kwetta’s A$16m Series A funding round, alongside Blackbird, Outset, and Icehouse.
What’s wrong with EV deployment today?
The global shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is creating immense pressure on existing grid and charging infrastructure. As electricity grids become more congested due to the growth of renewables and electrification, grid connection times for new charging stations are skyrocketing. In countries like Australia, delays have gone from weeks to years, hampering the transition to clean energy transportation. Additionally, existing infrastructure struggles to scale to meet growing demand for heavy-duty vehicle charging.
Enter Kwetta
Kwetta’s Prime unit provides a solution to these challenges. It connects directly to the medium-voltage distribution grid, bypassing the need for costly grid upgrades and enabling faster connection. Kwetta’s technology also supports scalable charging infrastructure by allowing customers to daisy-chain multiple units through a single connection point. Kwetta future-proofs its customers’ operations by providing a cost-effective platform that can be expanded when required.
The full Kwetta team at their warehouse in Napier, New Zealand
The Founders’ Story
Kwetta was founded by Dustin Murdock, Dr. Robert Turner, and Mike Lazelle. Dustin has over 11 years of experience in hardware engineering, Robert brings 15 years of expertise in power electronics, and Mike has deep knowledge of grid project delivery across multiple regions. Their combined technical and operational expertise has enabled Kwetta to rapidly develop and deploy its technology, already generating over NZ$5m in annual revenue and securing contracts with major customers like Ampol. The team has now built an impressive pipeline of customer interest from Australia to Europe.
The Founders of Kwetta with 200kW skyhooks: Mike Lazelle, Dustin Murdock, Robert Turner
Why We Invested
- Growing demand for EV infrastructure: As global EV adoption accelerates, demand for efficient, scalable, and cost-effective charging solutions is rapidly increasing, with Kwetta’s first-in-market technology being well-positioned to capture this opportunity.
- Defensible and scalable technology: Kwetta’s Prime units offer a significant advantage over traditional chargers by ‘unlocking’ the grid. The team’s pedigree in power electronics R&D for the semiconductor fabrication industry has led to a technology at the leading edge that is difficult to replicate.
- Execution-first founders with deep understanding of the market: With over 40 years of combined experience in power engineering and grid infrastructure, Kwetta’s founders have demonstrated exceptional execution, moving from product development to market deployment in just 3.5 years. Kwetta has already deployed 12 Prime units (and 39 charging bays) across New Zealand and is in discussions with heavy vehicle customers in New Zealand, Australia, and Europe.
A Kwetta ‘Prime’ unit being deployed to a customer site
We are excited to support the Kwetta team as they scale and help accelerate the transition to electric transportation. For further details or any questions, please reach out to Kristin Vaughan.
