Leave a Nest Capital and YAMADA SHOKAI HOLDING Co., Ltd. Jointly Invest in Philippine EV Charging Venture CHRG

Leave a Nest Group, through Leave a Nest Capital Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Shuichiro Takahashi; hereinafter “Leave a Nest Capital”), together with YAMADA SHOKAI HOLDING Co., Ltd. (Now: Ignysia Co., Ltd.) (Head Office: Nagoya, Aichi; President and Representative Director: Toyohisa Yamada; hereinafter “Yamada Shokai”), jointly invested in CHRG Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc. (Head Office: Quezon City, Philippines; CEO: Leo Tayo; hereinafter “CHRG”), a Philippine EV charging infrastructure development venture.

This seed round marks CHRG’s first time raising external capital, and is also the first joint investment in an overseas venture by Leave a Nest Group and a “Knowledge Core Company”.

CHRG is a university spin-off that originated with “CharM,” a fast-charging technology research project at the University of the Philippines Diliman supported by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Its fast chargers can reduce charging time from the conventional four to six hours to less than one hour. CHRG can handle design, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and improvement within the Philippines.

CHRG is currently accredited by the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) as an EV charging station provider and supplies charging systems to local governments, universities, commercial facilities, and public transportation operators, with approximately 20 units installed across the Philippines.

Through this investment, the parties will strengthen CHRG’s manufacturing and maintenance capabilities and advance the demonstration and deployment of charging systems suited to commercial mobility such as e-tricycles and e-jeepneys. They will also combine Yamada Shokai’s expertise in infrastructure construction and maintenance with CHRG’s charging technology and local implementation capabilities to build an integrated business model covering the manufacture, installation, operation, and maintenance of charging equipment.

They will also leverage CHRG’s network across the Philippines to support local demonstrations and business development by Japanese startups and companies, while working toward a new investment and business development model in which regional Knowledge Core Companies and local ventures jointly develop businesses.

<About CHRG>

• Company Name: CHRG Electric Vehicle Technologies Inc.
• Head Office: Quezon City, Philippines
• CEO: Leo Tayo
• Business: Development, manufacturing, and services for EV chargers, including fast-charging systems, AC chargers, battery management systems (BMS), testing, and design consulting
• Operations commenced: 2019
• Accreditation: Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) accredited operator
• Website: https://www.chrg.tech/