Depotcharge has reason to celebrate: The Munich-based startup has raised €2.7 million in pre-seed funding, led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). xdeck Ventures, Kopa Ventures, and Prequel Ventures also participated, alongside business angels from the logistics, e-mobility, and energy sectors. Together with the BGL, Depotcharge is launching a nationwide depot charging network for electric trucks.
Depotcharge aims to improve the utilization of existing charging points at freight forwarding depots. Through the platform, transport companies can make available charging capacity accessible to other fleets and, in return, access charging points across the network themselves.
With BGL Charge, this model is now being rolled out across Germany as an industry-wide solution. The BGL represents around 7,000 companies organized across its regional associations. In addition, E.L.V.I.S. AG supports the network, contributing its community of more than 250 partner companies across over 350 locations. According to the participating companies, more than 200 businesses with around 600 electric trucks are already registered with Depotcharge.
For Depotcharge, this cooperation is at least as significant as the funding round itself: instead of having to acquire charging points site by site entirely on its own, the startup can expand its network through the transport industry’s established structures.
€2.7 million for expansion and transport management integration
The capital will be used, among other things, for international expansion and further technical development of the platform. Plans include reservation functions, open APIs, and the integration of charging processes into existing transport management systems. This is intended to link charging planning more closely with truck fleet dispatching.
According to Depotcharge, the platform operates independently of charging hardware, backends, and vehicle manufacturers. Depot operators can define for themselves when their charging points are available, who is permitted to access them, and under what conditions charging takes place. The platform handles access control, billing, and payment processing, among other functions.
Depotcharge transfers Astag Charge model from Switzerland
Germany is not the first market where Depotcharge is collaborating with an industry association. In Switzerland, Astag Charge has been operational since early May 2026. Implemented jointly with the Swiss commercial vehicle association Astag, the model enables member companies to share their charging infrastructure within the network.
For the Munich-based startup, the cooperation is an important showcase reference: Astag initially launched the solution as a pilot and intends to expand it gradually. Germany’s BGL Charge now follows the same core principle, but targets the German road freight transport sector.
Depotcharge is already pursuing its next expansion step. Over the coming two years, the company aims to establish a leading charging network for electric freight transport across the DACH region and the Benelux countries. According to HTGF, Depotcharge has also been active with its own sales partner in the Benelux countries since September 2026.
Unused Depot Charging Capacity as a Business Model
“The wave of electric truck adoption is really picking up speed. In many operational areas, the cost per kilometer is already attractive today. The bottleneck is the charging infrastructure. While more than 60 percent of depot charging capacities remain unused, freight forwarders are forced to rely on expensive public charging stations,”
says Timo Bertsch, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF, and continues:
“Depotcharge solves this problem by connecting existing depot charging infrastructure into a network. The team brings significant experience from building up Digital Charging Solutions and has proven with the ASTAG partnership in Switzerland that the model works.”
Depotcharge is therefore trying to build a two-sided marketplace from this: operators can market spare capacity, while e-truck fleets gain additional charging options. The more depots take part, the denser the network can become – without Depotcharge having to build or operate all the charging points itself.
For the ramp-up, it will therefore be crucial how many of the companies accessible via the associations actually open up charging points, and how seamlessly availability, reservations, and billing can be integrated into the day-to-day operations of logistics providers.
