Enera raises £1.5m led by Lakehouse Ventures and Divergent Capital
This article covers Enera, an AI startup, which has closed a pre-seed funding round of £1.5m led by US firm Lakehouse Ventures to accelerate pilots with UK charge point operators and expand into Europe. The funding will support deployment of Enera's AI-driven support platform aimed at reducing failed electric vehicle charging sessions and improving driver experience for charge point operators and EV drivers.
Enera, an AI startup, has closed a pre-seed funding round of £1.5m to accelerate pilots with UK charge point operators and push into Europe. The round, led by US firm Lakehouse Ventures in its first investment outside the United States, will fund deployment of Enera’s AI-driven support platform that aims to reduce failed electric vehicle charging sessions and improve driver experience.
Why it matters
Despite rapid EV adoption — EVs outsold petrol cars across Europe in December 2025 — charging infrastructure still struggles with reliability and driver support. Operators commonly report high hardware uptime, yet Enera cites an industry figure that 29% of charging sessions fail in practice. That mismatch leaves drivers stranded and operators without the diagnostic data they need to fix recurring faults.
The funding is notable because it targets a practical, infrastructure-level problem rather than an asset-light consumer app. If Enera’s approach cuts failure rates, it could directly improve EV usability and support broader decarbonisation targets by making public charging more dependable.
Inside the product
Enera’s product is built around two components. The Control Room ingests driver support calls, charger telemetry and backend logs to surface where charging journeys break down. Layered on top are white-labelled AI Support Agents that take helpline calls, troubleshoot live, proactively monitor networks and reach out to drivers before issues escalate. The company says this creates a continuous feedback loop: operators get richer operational intelligence and drivers receive technical support in real time.
The company already has pilots underway with unnamed UK charge point operators (CPOs). Enera says the new capital will scale those trials and support roll-out across European markets where similar reliability and support gaps exist.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Lakehouse Ventures, marking the fund’s first investment outside the US. Other participants included US-based Divergent Capital, Spanish investor Masia, and a group of angel backers that the company says includes eight founders from across the EV and infrastructure ecosystem.
In the announcement, John Neamonitis, Founder & GP at Lakehouse Ventures, said:
AI customer support has been one of the most well-funded categories of the last two years, but almost all of that capital has gone into asset-light industries. Enera is one of the first teams we have seen credibly take this technology into asset-heavy infrastructure, where the stakes are higher and the integrations are harder. We are excited to back Nicholas, Arnaldo, and the team as they prove it out in EV charging and open up a much larger opportunity from there.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Nicholas Marquardt, Co-Founder and CEO at Enera, said:
EV charging is the sharpest example of a much bigger problem: the world increasingly runs on distributed, connected hardware, but when something goes wrong the person standing in front of it isn't an engineer. Operators can't see where their experience is breaking down, and users carry the cost. We are building the AI recovery layer for that entire category of infrastructure, starting where the pain is sharpest and the market is growing fastest.
Enera was founded in 2025 and is headquartered in London and Barcelona. Marquardt previously held roles at Papaya, Arrival, Zoomo and Greentech Capital Advisors. Co-founder Arnaldo Vera comes from Schneider Electric, MongoDB and YC-backed Handoff.ai.
The bigger picture
The funding reflects a wider trend: investors and founders are applying AI to physical, asset-heavy problems where operational improvements translate directly into user outcomes. For the UK and Europe, improving charging reliability is operationally critical to sustaining EV adoption and reducing range anxiety.
The deal also underlines transatlantic investor interest in European infrastructure-focused AI companies. If Enera’s pilots convert to measurable drops in failed sessions, similar AI recovery layers could be adopted across other distributed systems such as public transit, energy grid assets and industrial IoT, offering a larger addressable market for the team.
They've invested in Enera
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| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 Divergent Capital( ) | ||||
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