When former Hawaii startup company Volta Charging went public last week on the New York Stock Exchange, it marked a moment of triumph for early investors Blue Startups and Hawaii Angels.
Volta Charging (VLTA), which has placed nearly 2,000 free electric vehicle charging stations — supported by advertisements — in 23 states, was first pitched in Hawaii 10 years ago by founder Scott Mercer. His company was a member of Blue Startups' inaugural cohort in 2013.
It is the first Blue Startups cohort member to graduate to public trading. The move was made Aug. 27.
"We are thrilled to see Volta go public, it is a validation for Blue Startups, Hawaii Angels and the entire Hawaii startup ecosystem that world class startups can be born and bred in Hawaii," Chenoa Farnsworth, Blue Startups managing partner, emailed Pacific Business News on Thursday.
Co-founder Chris Wendel was an investor with Hawaii Angels when he joined the Volta team.
Farnsworth told PBN that Blue Startups originally invested $70,000 in Volta in 2013 and members of the Hawaii Angels invested over $700,000 between 2012 and 2016. "At current stock prices, these investments have increased in value by more than 10x," Farnsworth said.
That funding allowed Volta to expand from Hawaii with its first charging stations in California in 2012. According to Blue Startups, Volta was valued at $1.2 billion at the time of its merger with Tortoise Acquisition Corp. just prior to going public.
Volta was trading at $8.94 per share at end-of-day Thursday.
In 2012, Volta won PBN's Innovative Company of the Year award as it mixed traditional advertising with the growing popularity of EVs. At the time, its charging stations cost $20,000 to $40,000 to install. The first Hawaii mall to sign up with Volta was Pearlridge.
Mercer, the CEO, was a PBN 40 Under 40 honoree in 2013. What was then called Volta Industries started in the back of Kakaako auto repair shop.
Today, of the company's 1,978 chargers nationally, 46 are in Hawaii. It recently announced its intent to expand to Europe.
