Keith Johnston

Background

About Keith Johnston

Driving electric vehicles and working full-time in the EV and EV charging industry since 2003. I am a social scientist with a focus on innovation and creativity to create highly differentiated businesses. One of European Business magazine’s Global Top 50 Low Carbon Pioneers and twice recipient of the GreenFleet Industry Innovation of the Year award, I have completed business accelerators including Simulate Live Labs and Wayra Intelligent Mobility, raised ~£4M in grant funding through multiple agencies including Climate-KIC (Europe's climate innovation agency) and Innovate UK (the UK's innovation agency), raised ~£65M shareholder investment commitment at seed, crowdfunding, Series A and IPO, and exited 2 companies through trade sales. I learned even more from ventures that didn’t do so well. Cofounder British startup Urban Electric Networks Ltd, developer of the multi-award winning UEone kerbside retractable chargepoint and plug and play charging system, enabling the 10M UK drivers that park on-street at night to switch to EV. Voted #6 European Cleantech Startup 2018. In March 2023 Balfour Beatty - the UK’s leading infrastructure business - partnered and committed up to £60m through Balfour Beatty Investments to launch Urban Fox Networks as a new UK network operator with exclusive UK rights to the UEone. BBI also took a minority stake in Urban Electric, which continues to develop IP for the UK and overseas markets. Urban Fox enters into long term partnerships with local authorities to fund, plan, build, install, operate and maintain accessible near home slow, fast and rapid charging infrastructure. Urban Fox won Chargepoint Manufacturer of the Year for the UEone at the EVIEs in its first year of operation. I have lived & worked in the UK, Europe & Asia, helping EV & EVSE companies to create shareholder value through product, service and business model innovation: launch of the first electric car in the UK; the first online only EV retailer; the first EV mobile service business; the first Pay As You Go EV charging network; the first app that allows EV drivers to find, use and pay for charging; the first platform connecting EV drivers and charging networks; relaunching the Vespa of Eastern Europe as an e-scooter; and the world’s first retractable kerbside charging hub. Always looking to connect with like-minded souls. Stirring the EV pot: Twitter @keith__johnston