FRANKFURT (Reuters) - ChargePoint, one of the world's biggest operators of charging equipment for electric vehicles, has struck a deal to supply Daimler (DE:DAIGn) retailers with slow and fast chargers.
The move, part of the Silicon Valley-based firm's foray into the European market, comes only two weeks after a $240-million (190-million pound) funding round, its biggest ever, in which Daimler - already an investor - took part via its trucks and buses unit.
Daimler's German peer BMW (DE:BMWG) has also invested in ChargePoint, while other shareholders include German industrial conglomerate Siemens (DE:SIEGn), U.S. utility American Electric Power (N:AEP) and oil producer Chevron (N:CVX).
The agreement includes the deployment of slower AC chargers and fast 150 kilowatt chargers at properties owned by Daimler into 2019, ChargePoint said.
The chargers will also be available to retailers of cars, vans and trucks of Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand.
"As ChargePoint continues to scale in the midst of the most aggressive period of growth in its history, this agreement is another milestone in our ongoing partnership with Daimler," Christopher Burghardt, ChargePoint's managing director for Europe, said.
"The two companies have continued to work closely on a wide range of strategic projects as both companies prepare for the mass adoption of electric mobility in Europe."
In the most recent sign of German carmakers accelerating their push into electric vehicle technology, Daimler earlier this week said it would buy battery cells worth more than 20 billion euros (18 billion pounds) by 2030.
ChargePoint aims to operate 2.5 million charging points by 2025, compared with more than 58,000 currently.