Ember, the Scottish all-electric intercity bus operator, has announced today (26 March 2024) that it’s raised £11 million in Series A funding.

The oversubscribed funding round was led by investment firms Inven Capital, 2150, and AENU, and saw participation from existing investors Pale Blue Dot and SkyScanner co-founder Gareth Williams. The company will use the capital to accelerate the rollout of its electric bus services, and further invest in EmberOS, the platform that controls the network and delivers “game-changing” customer experience.

Founded in Edinburgh by Keith Bradbury and Pierce Glennie in 2020, Ember is helping tackle the challenge of electrifying intercity coaches—the most highly-utilised vehicles on the road. These often travel over 250,000 kilometres per year, far exceeding the average mileage of even long-distance trucks. The vast distances and large vehicle size mean the emissions saved from electrifying each intercity bus outweighs other vehicle categories.

Rather than just providing software to help legacy operators go electric, Ember is taking a “full-stack, first-principles” approach. This includes building its own dedicated ultra-fast charging network, designing and operating its own routes, and working closely with its manufacturing partner on vehicle development. The EmberOS platform that orchestrates all operations then helps bring everything together.

Over 750,000 journeys have already been made with Ember, with that number expected to double over the coming year as the network expands. Ember will soon take delivery of the first batch of its next-generation bus, with a 563 kWh battery and a range of over 500 kilometres.

Speaking on Ember’s mission and the challenges it’s helping tackle, co-founder Keith Bradbury said: “Travelling by bus or coach doesn’t have to be rubbish. It should be possible to deliver an experience that beats a car – because someone else is doing the driving so you can have your time back – but that requires a relentless focus on the passenger experience. Things like live tracking that actually works, super-simple pricing, easy ticket changes and near-perfect reliability.”

“Under the hood it’s a delightfully complicated problem to solve” added co-founder Pierce Glennie. “EmberOS is the digital twin of our network, and we continue to add layers of data that enable the system to always know what’s going on. That means things like real-time vehicle states, current traffic conditions, nearby bus lanes, battery cell temperatures and the health of our chargers. When you put all of that together you can really bring down operational costs and deliver a better experience.”

Recommended reading

• International Day of Clean Energy: Scotland’s Story
• Will Next-gen EVs Be Cheaper to Produce Than ICEs by 2027?
• Can Scotland Still Meet Its 2030 Climate Goals?

Daniel Edgerley, investment director at Inven Capital, said the following on today’s £11 million funding announcement: “Inven Capital is excited to co-lead Ember’s financing round alongside 2150 and AENU, and to join other great existing investors. We have been impressed with both Keith and Pierce as founders and as visionaries of the future of shared transportation. Our commitment to the company underscores our belief in their customer-centric and innovative approach to electrification and digitalisation across the business.”