The Corporate Venture Capital Edge: WEX® VC Unlocks Market Access as a Core Value for Energy Transition and Mobility Startups

In a venture landscape demanding more than just capital, corporate venture capital (CVC) funds are increasingly offering tangible strategic value beyond just a check. This was a resounding theme at the second annual WEX Venture Capital Summit in July, where WEX VC's portfolio companies attested to the crucial market access and product integration opportunities provided by WEX's vast network of global fleet vehicles and 150,000 charging locations. For founders pursuing Series A/B rounds and looking for more than just funding, WEX VC's approach offers a compelling blueprint.

What is corporate venture capital and how does WEX VC play a role?

Unlike traditional VCs primarily driven by financial returns, CVCs like WEX VC seek both financial returns and strategic alignment, leveraging innovative startup technologies to enhance their core business offerings and inform long-term strategy. Given WEX's 40+ year history in fleet management, this plays out powerfully in commercial mobility and B2B payments where scaling new technologies often requires navigating complex established industries.

"We're working to identify new revenue models where WEX can win," said David Klein, Head of WEX VC. "That's why WEX VC invests capital, product, and commercial partnership capabilities in innovative startups. It's a mutually-beneficial partnership. We help to accelerate their market entry and they can pull WEX into high-growth opportunities."

This strategic intent is evident in WEX VC's recent investment activities. Since its summer 2023 launch, it has announced nine investments, with direct stakes in HIVED, Volteras, Gravity Climate, AmpUp, ev.energy, and Chargetrip - and Standard Fleet, who recently announced its Series A funding! Bolstering its ecosystem approach, WEX VC also holds Limited Partner (LP) stakes in two venture capital firms: Energize Capital and Maniv. Early investments like Chargetrip and ev.energy are already embedded in WEX's commercial EV offerings to streamline fleet operations.

How is WEX VC enabling real-world impact and innovation?

The real differentiator for founders is the immediate, practical value these partnerships unlock. Nick Wooley, CEO and Co-founder of ev.energy, highlighted this, noting that "the big thing WEX can bring to us is the large amount of vehicles that may electrify and would have to then be integrated into the system." That's a boon to a company that develops software enabling utilities to match EV charging times with electricity supply and grid conditions. ev.energy's technology is currently integrated and live in the WEX EV Home Reimbursement product.

That type of scale is a consideration - and potential opportunity - for startups like Standard Fleet, too. Their fleet management platform connects directly to a vehicle with a system that supports more than 30 automakers.

"Our goal is to help fleets address operational challenges so they can scale faster, control access in real time, and streamline operations across diverse vehicle types without costly or time-consuming hardware installations," said David Hodge, founder and CEO of Standard Fleet. "WEX Venture Capital provides both capital and data integration opportunities that can help us accelerate OEM-agnostic solutions in the rapidly growing fleet management sector."

Enterprise carbon accounting and energy management platform Gravity also collaborates with WEX-owned Sawatch Labs to identify fleet electrification opportunities for its customers. This is being offered to Gravity's customers as a part of its newly-launched Energy Management Marketplace, which connects Gravity's customers with a wide range of actionable energy projects to help lower both their operating costs and carbon footprints.

"Our collaboration with Sawatch Labs allows us to translate energy data on the Gravity platform into actionable fleet electrification opportunities that reduce costs and emissions for our customers," said Saleh ElHattab, Co-Founder and CEO of Gravity. "Through partnerships like these, our Energy Management Marketplace has already created more than $16 million in lifetime savings by financing and facilitating a wide range of cost-saving energy projects."

The direct line to WEX's vast customer base and operational expertise can help startups accelerate their market penetration and product development in ways traditional venture funding alone often cannot.

Why is WEX VC unique from other CVCs?

WEX VC combines the network of a mobility industry leader with a founder mentality. WEX built a team that has founded companies, raised venture capital, gone through Y Combinator, and worked at Techstars and other successful startups such as Twilio, General Assembly, and Strava. The team knows what it takes to build a VC that attracts the best founders.

The Summit itself, drawing dozens of startups, 20 venture capital funds focused on mobility and the energy transition (representing over $26 billion in assets under management), and a diverse group of industry experts, served as a testament to this collaborative model. For Series A/B founders, WEX VC offers a clear signal: beyond capital, a partnership can mean invaluable market access, integrated product development, and a strategic partner deeply invested in navigating the complexities of established commercial industries alongside you.