Go Eve secures £750k grant from Innovate UK to boost DockChain charger sharing
This article covers Go Eve, a University College Dublin and Imperial College London spin-out energy startup, securing £750k in grant funding to develop the next generation of its DockChain system for DC fast charger sharing across multiple parking bays. The 18-month project, backed by Innovate UK and private investors, aims to improve sequential fast charging reliability for commercial fleets and to explore future vehicle-to-grid (V2G) revenue opportunities.
Go Eve, a University College Dublin and Imperial College London spin-out energy startup, has secured £750,000 in a grant funding round to develop the next generation of its DockChain system for DC fast charger sharing across multiple parking bays. The 18-month project, backed by Innovate UK alongside private investment, aims to make sequential fast charging more reliable for commercial fleets and to explore future vehicle-to-grid (V2G) revenue opportunities.
Why it matters
Commercial fleets are at the centre of the UK’s electrification challenge. DockChain’s approach — allowing one DC fast charger to serve several parked vehicles in sequence while they remain plugged in — promises to reduce the number of expensive chargers and cut electrical infrastructure costs at sites with limited grid capacity. Improving the system’s reliability could make charger sharing a more practical option for fleet operators that face varying vehicle behaviours, tight schedules and constrained parking.
Inside the product
DockChain is a patented system that extends compatible DC fast chargers across multiple bays and controls the order and timing of sessions. The new project will focus on custom hardware, firmware and software to enable the system to start, stop and restart charging sessions remotely without the need to unplug a vehicle. Existing DockChain units will be upgradable to incorporate the new controls.
The development will be led by Go Eve’s engineering team in Wolverhampton, with a production-ready version planned for manufacturing partners in 2027. The company says trials will be run with fleet operators, prioritising sites where vehicles share limited charging capacity, have differing departure times, or where dwell times could allow for V2G services when vehicles are idle.
Who are the investors?
The programme is funded through a combination of a grant from Innovate UK and unspecified private investment, totalling £750,000. Innovate UK’s support comes via its Growth Catalyst, Investor Partnerships programme, which funds projects intended to accelerate commercial demonstration and investor readiness.
The grant underwrites an 18-month development and testing phase, with Go Eve responsible for engineering work and partners tasked with manufacturing once the design is production-ready. Private backers were not named in the announcement.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of energy venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of energy angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
In the announcement, John Goodbody, co-founder and Marketing Director at Go Eve, said:
As fuel prices reach record highs and EV penetration across UK commercial fleets is projected to reach 30–50% by 2030, fleet managers are reappraising the economics of electrification. The ability to make better use of existing chargers, parking bays and available grid capacity will be increasingly important in managing this transition.
In the announcement, John Goodbody, co-founder and Marketing Director at Go Eve, said:
We’ve already shown that fleets can serve more bays without multiplying the number of fast chargers, that’s where the immediate cost and rollout benefit comes from DockChain. Working with fleets has also taught us that vehicles don’t always behave exactly as expected at the charging connector. Some EVs need another attempt to start; others can be reluctant to restart charging after power flow is paused for grid, or priority reasons. This project tackles those practical issues so we can make DockChain more reliable and more flexible.
The bigger picture
Go Eve’s DockChain is already deployed across Europe and North America with customers including Stellantis, Openreach, SAP and Detroit airport, which demonstrates interest from both vehicle manufacturers and large infrastructure operators. Addressing reliability and restart behaviour is a practical next step if charger-sharing systems are to scale across commercial fleets.
More broadly, the project sits at the intersection of fleet electrification, grid flexibility and nascent V2G markets. If successful, upgrades that let fleets manage charge sessions more autonomously could reduce rollout costs and help site operators extract more value from existing assets.
This funding and development effort reflects the UK and European push to accelerate EV infrastructure solutions that make electrification cheaper and more grid-aware, particularly for commercial fleets where operational constraints and economics differ from retail passenger charging.
They've invested in Go Eve
Get to know these energy investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK