Paren, an EV data platform startup, raises capital from Base10 Partners

Paren Inc., a software platform powering electric mobility with unified data insights, today announced that it has raised $3M in its first round of financing. The round was led by Base10 Partners. Founders Network Fund and Luc Vincent (founder, Google Street View and Lyft 5) also participated in the round. Paren will use the capital to scale its current data platform and build new services on top of it.

Paren was founded in 2023 with the goal of accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles by enabling a seamless driving experience. The company, after acquiring EVSession, LLC in March 2024 and experiencing accelerated growth, recently completed an additional acquisition of EVAdoption LLC, an EV infrastructure data and analysis firm. Loren McDonald, EVAdoption’s founder and a trusted industry expert joins the executive team as Chief Evangelist.

Paren estimates that 100 million public fast charging sessions will occur in the U.S. in 2024 and expects over 1 billion charging sessions by 2030 at which time a projected 7.5% of vehicles in operation will be battery powered. Access to rich data sets, including EV charging station reliability, is key to realizing this expansion. As a neutral platform, Paren synthesizes fragmented data across the ecosystem into a unified model, addressing the limitations of closed-loop systems, and enabling more powerful applications to be built on top of its dataset. Paren’s reliability analysis has been validated by a recent charger health study (source).

“We are thrilled to have the support of Base10 and our other investors as we address the foundational aspects of the EV charging infrastructure with unified data insights”, said Florent Breton, CEO and Co-Founder of Paren. “With the continued momentum at Paren alongside the acquisition of EVAdoption, we welcome Loren as one of the most well-regarded experts in the industry.”.

“Based on our lengthy EV driving experience, we know that charging on the public network requires seamless access to availability, reliability, pricing, amenities, and safety data,” noted Bill Ferro, CTO and Co-Founder of Paren. “Our solutions are designed to empower automakers, map makers, fleet operators, and other enterprise customers to elevate the driver experience. Combining with EVAdoption’s data will broaden our platform and allow for more robust product offerings.”

This investment will allow Paren to grow its team, expand data sets, and scale its platform to meet the demand of enterprise partners. Notably, Paren is expanding its API access to reliability, plus augmenting its data sets around amenities, pricing, and safety to be seamlessly available to drivers using the national EV infrastructure.

“Paren’s data offers unique insights into the EV charging industry that continue to unlock key business opportunities for us,” said Brandon Stritch, CEO of StritchCo, a Charge Point Operator based in Florida and Paren Customer. “We look forward to benefiting from their expanded data sets and services to help us drive future revenue growth.”

“Charging anxiety is one of the biggest blockers to EV adoption, and much of that is the result of charger reliability. This is a huge problem today that is only getting more acute as EV adoption and production goals uptick,” noted Rexhi Dollaku, General Partner at Base10 Partners. “The team at Paren has deep industry expertise, familiarity with this point, and understanding/collaboration with the key market stakeholders. Paren has created a platform that we believe is uniquely positioned to solve the charger anxiety crisis.”

About Paren
Founded by Florent Breton (CEO) and Bill Ferro (CTO), Paren Inc is based out of San Francisco, Ca. Acting as a neutral platform, Paren aggregates, enriches, and serves the most comprehensive data on the essential aspects of EV charging. Its data is accessible via an online application or API Gateway.

About Base10 Partners
Founded by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian, Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund investing in founders who believe purpose is key to profits and in companies that are automating sectors of the Real Economy.

• Exusia delivers solutions leveraging its full lifecycle AI, Data engineering, cloud computing expertise, and a robust portfolio of partnerships with Microsoft Azure, AWS, Databricks, Snowflake, Ab Initio, and Google Cloud
• Exusia has a strong cross-industry footprint, working for leading companies in the Healthcare, Logistics, Financial Services and Consumer Products verticals

Globant, a digitally native company focused on reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions, announced that on September 26th, 2024 it acquired Exusia, a U.S.-based IT services consulting firm specialized in full lifecycle AI, data engineering, cloud migration, and analytics capabilities including strategy, implementation, and managed services. Exusia also holds a robust portfolio of partnerships with Microsoft Azure, AWS, Databricks, Snowflake, Ab Initio, and Google Cloud.

Founded by Trevor Silver in 2012, Exusia provides services to leading companies in the healthcare, logistics, financial services and consumer products verticals, consolidating 80%+ of its revenues in the U.S. while also developing businesses in South Africa and India. Exusia employs 400 professionals, distributed between its talent delivery hubs in India, the U.S. and South Africa. Trevor Silver, his management team, and all of Exusia’s team members will remain with Globant.

“Exusia is a great addition to Globant as we continue expanding our vision of becoming leaders in reinventing the industry. Their robust experience in AI & data and amazing roster of partnerships are completely aligned with our expertise. We look forward to boosting both of our knowledge and delivery capabilities to keep growing and bringing AI reinvention to organizations worldwide,” said Martín Migoya, Co-founder and CEO at Globant.

“Globant came to us with perfect timing as we were looking to scale and expand our core offerings to our clients. Our professionals all over the world will enjoy being part of such a great organization with an amazing working culture that is filled with opportunities to expand their skills and careers on a larger global stage,” said Trevor Silver, Founder and CEO at Exusia.

“North America is Globant’s biggest market globally, and we have been growing our business steadily in the region as well as our offerings across many industries. By adding Exusia’s expertise in critical domains and integrating their ecosystem into our digitally native operational model, we will foster exceptional value creation,” said Nicolás Kaplun, Chief Business Officer of North America at Globant.

“Exusia demonstrated the same strong commitment to quality and passion for challenging the status quo that we have at Globant. In addition to driving our growth plans in North America, this partnership represents our first expansion into South Africa, a dynamic business hub for the African continent,” said Martin Umaran, Co-Founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer at Globant.

About Globant

At Globant, we create the digitally-native products that people love. We bridge the gap between businesses and consumers through technology and creativity, leveraging our experience as an AI powerhouse. We dare to digitally transform organizations and strive to delight their customers.

• We have more than 29,100 employees and are present in 33 countries across 5 continents, working for companies like Google, Electronic Arts, and Santander, among others.
• We were named a Worldwide Leader in AI Services (2023) and a Worldwide Leader in CX Improvement Services (2020) by IDC MarketScape report.
• We are the fastest-growing IT brand and the 5th strongest IT brand globally (2024), according to Brand Finance.
• We were featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.
• We are active members of The Green Software Foundation (GSF) and the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.

HungryPanda, the world’s leading overseas Asian food delivery platform, today announced the successful completion of a $55 million refinancing and fundraise. The round was led by Mars Growth Capital, a JV between Liquidity Group and MUFG,with continued support from HungryPanda’s existing investors, including Perwyn, Kinnevik, 83North, and Felix. This new funding will enable HungryPanda to solidify its leadership in the Asian food delivery market and explore new opportunities to serve a broader range of minority ethnic communities, particularly in North America.

Founded in 2017, HungryPanda has established itself as a global leader in Asian food delivery, operating in over 80 cities across 10 countries, serving more than 6.5 million users in partnership with over 100,000 merchants. In 2021, the company raised $130 million in Series D to expand into new markets and explore mergers and acquisitions. To date, HungryPanda has raised over $275 million in funding and has entered a new phase of business growth. In 2024, HungryPanda achieved profitability while maintaining an annual growth rate of over 30%—a remarkable achievement in the competitive food delivery industry.

“Reaching profitability while maintaining significant growth demonstrates the strength of our business model and our long-term vision. This success is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our entire team,” said Eric Liu, Founder and CEO of HungryPanda. “HungryPanda is more than just a delivery platform—we see ourselves as an ambassador of Asian cuisine. With this new funding, we are poised to accelerate our expansion into North America, elevate our services, and continue to champion the richness of Asian food culture on a global scale. We are especially grateful for the support from Mars Growth Capital and Liquidity Group, whose partnership will help us achieve our ambitious goals.”

“I am proud of how HungryPanda has positioned itself uniquely within the food delivery sector by focusing on the specific needs of Asian communities globally,” said David Buttress, Chairman of the Board at HungryPanda. “Our targeted approach and deep understanding of this market have been key drivers of our growth and success. “As we continue to scale, I am confident we will further solidify our leadership in this space and capitalize on new opportunities.”

The new funding will enable HungryPanda to continue meeting the growing demand for Asian food and groceries, while upholding the high service standards its customers expect. In addition, HungryPanda remains committed to supporting its delivery riders by setting industry-leading standards for safety and offering sustainable gig work opportunities.

“HungryPanda has been able to carve out an impressive niche in the highly-competitive food delivery vertical, and as a result, has experienced double-digit growth while continuing to strengthen its position as a market leader,” said Paul Brodie, Managing Director, Europe at Mars Growth Capital and Liquidity Group. “We are excited to be part of HungryPanda’s next chapter along with its existing investors.”

About HungryPanda
Founded in 2017, HungryPanda is currently the largest overseas Asian food delivery platform and the only food delivery platform to rank in Deloitte’s 2021 UK Technology Fast 50. Starting in Nottingham, U.K., HungryPanda has expanded to more than 80 cities in 10 countries: the U.K., France, Italy, the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Currently, HungryPanda works with over 80,000 riders, 100,000 merchants and serves over 6 million users worldwide. This year, HungryPanda sets sights on $1 billion in gross transaction volume.

About MARS Growth Capital
MARS Growth Capital, a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group, provides advanced financing solutions to fintech, SaaS, and e-commerce businesses in Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Europe. Utilizing Liquidity Group’s AI and machine learning, MARS offers credit and equity financing ranging from $3 million to $100 million for mid-market, late-stage, and pre-IPO technology companies.

About Liquidity Group
Liquidity Group is the leading AI-driven financial asset management firm in the world. With multi-billions across funds focused on North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, Liquidity Group operates globally with offices in Abu Dhabi, New York, London, Tel Aviv and Singapore. The firm’s patented decision science technology enables it to deploy more capital through more deals much faster than other firms in the capital markets industry, establishing it as the fastest-growing provider of credit and equity financing to mid-market and late-stage companies. Liquidity Group is backed by leading global financial institutions including Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, Spark Capital, Apollo Asset Management and others.