The million-dollar loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to electrify its entire fleet of vehicles -in total about 1,400 vehicles- will lead Cabify to make a very significant disbursement with its own funds. There will be, in total, 42 million euros that will accompany the 40 million of the financing that the European entity will provide in the form of ‘venture debt’, a more flexible debt and with terms focused on the long term that is used mainly by startups. The objective set for this project must be completed before 2025.
This Monday the signing of the multi-year financing agreement was formalized, which will imply a significant effort on the part of the company founded and directed by Juan de Antonio. The executive has insisted that these 42 million euros will be contributed directly by the company, although it has not been revealed whether it will be in the form of debt or through a new capital increase with current partners -including Rakuten and other managers such as Seaya Ventures -. Since 2018 there has been no round of financing in use and they have been raising capital through operations such as the sale of their shares in Glovo.
In total, those 82 million, between the contribution of the EIB and Cabify, will be used not only for the purchase of electric vehicles, but also for the creation of the entire electric charging infrastructure to provide support. The goal is to do it no earlier than 2025
The process has a first phase, which is a tender at the beginning of 2023 between different manufacturers and partners for the manufacture of vehicles and charging infrastructure. After choosing the suppliers, it will be implemented within the own fleet. Finally, an attempt will be made to reach agreements with its different smaller fleet partners so that, through incentives, they can also become electrified.
Today, according to its own data, Vecttor, which is its main fleet along with that of the Prestige and Limousine company, has 95% of the vehicles with the Zero Emissions or ‘Eco’ label. Now they want all vehicles to be 100% electric. Beyond these 1,400 units, some projects linked to other technologies such as electric but hydrogen-powered are being carried out. Until now they have carried out smaller projects with Enagás and with a ‘hydrogen’ in Madrid.
Debt
It is not the first time that Cabify has resorted to financing from a ‘public’ bank. In 2019, it made a loan for 70 million dollars (62 million euros at the exchange rate of the date) with the Ibero-American Development Bank (IDB) to obtain ‘gasoline’ with which to boost its Latin American operations. The disbursement was in several tranches.
In the case of Vector, the debt with financial institutions, through a syndicated loan, was close to 52 million euros at the end of last year. That credit was refinanced in the middle of that year. A total of four tranches with a series of maturities were established, in June 2028.
