European Entrepreneurs Are Transforming the EV Ecosystem with Cariqa

With a clear and unwavering vision toward a more sustainable future, they built a thriving business.

The Minds Behind the Business:

Issam Tidjani, Stefano Bonetta, and Tamara Ciullo are the innovative minds behind their startup, Cariqa. Through their collective efforts, they are not only contributing to a more sustainable future but also driving advancements in clean energy technologies and infrastructure that will lead to a more eco-friendly world.

Issam Tidjani:

Meet Issam Tidjani, CEO and co-founder of Cariqa. With over 17 years of experience in the tech industry, he is an expert in digital transformation, strategic growth, and product development. During his career, Issam has worked with globally recognized companies.

Issam has been passionate about making a significant impact in the EV space. With his unwavering enthusiasm, now he is fixing a gap in the growing EV charging market.

Stefano Bonetta:

Meet Stefano Bonetta, the CTO and co-founder of Cariqa. With a passion for sustainability, mobile technologies, and AI, he is currently focused on connecting these areas to bring meaningful and positive change. 

Tamara Ciullo:

Tamara Ciullo is the CCO and co-founder of Cariqa. She holds an economics degree and has been passionate about sustainability since her university days. While she was employed at a company, her interest in sustainable mobility grew, and she became aware of some of the current issues in the electric vehicle industry. To deal with this challenge, she also started considering the possible solutions.

All the founders wanted to make a difference in the EV charging industry, which led them to start a new chapter. Soon, they embarked on their entrepreneurial journey with the goal of revolutionizing the payment process for EV charging as well as enhancing and streamlining the electric vehicle experience for everyone.

Inspiration behind their startup:

The story began when the founders noticed a significant gap in the rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) charging market. As they examined the challenges charging station operators and EV drivers faced, they realized the system was unfair and inefficient.

Charging station owners struggled to optimize the use of their infrastructure, often facing difficulties in maximizing their profits due to uneven demand, underutilized stations, and a lack of transparency in pricing. On the other side, EV drivers were often frustrated by unclear or unpredictable pricing models, making the charging experience less than ideal.

Recognizing these issues, they quickly recognized that this was the place where they wanted to nurture their entrepreneurial spirit, and all founders were inspired to take action. They set out with a vision to reshape the EV charging landscape by developing solutions that would benefit both station operators and drivers alike.

Their goal was to create a system where charging station owners could better manage and utilize their resources, leading to higher revenue and profitability. At the same time, they aimed to ensure that drivers would always be charged fair, transparent, and honest prices for the energy they consumed.

By addressing both sides of the market, the founders hoped to contribute to a more sustainable and balanced EV charging ecosystem, ultimately playing a part in the larger movement towards cleaner, greener, and more accessible mobility. And this is how the journey of founders started with their startup.

From Concept to Creation:

In 2023, Issam Tidjani, Stefano Bonetta, and Tamara Ciullo founded their startup, Cariqa, the world's first consumer-facing EV charging marketplace. It connects Charge Point Operators (CPOs) directly with EV drivers.

Cariqa is a platform that solves key problems in the EV charging industry. It helps charge point operators (CPOs), the companies that own and run EV charging stations, by improving how often their stations are used and giving them more control over pricing.

For EV drivers, Cariqa provides clear, easy-to-understand information about where charging stations are located and how much they will cost. Overall, Cariqa makes the charging process smoother for both station operators and drivers, helping everyone benefit from better prices and more efficient use of resources.

Cariqa revolutionizes the EV charging market by directly connecting charge point operators (CPOs) with EV drivers, ensuring clear and affordable pricing. By eliminating intermediaries and enhancing price control for CPOs, it helps improve utilization rates and reduces costs for drivers, creating a more efficient and transparent charging ecosystem.

In September 2024, Cariqa launched its new marketplace and has already teamed up with CPOs across Europe. It now provides access to over 420,000 charging stations in 30 countries. With features like easy charge point discovery, EV route planning, and detailed consumption tracking with alerts, Cariqa offers EV drivers a smooth charging experience and helps CPOs increase their profits.

From Vision to Reality:

At Cariqa, all the founders are focused on transforming the e-mobility sector to turn their vision of a sustainable future into reality. Their goal is to merge cutting-edge technology with innovation to create sustainable, user-friendly solutions in the electric vehicle industry. They are all deeply committed to continuous learning and adaptability, ensuring that both they and their team remain ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving market.

What makes their story truly inspiring is that, instead of overlooking the problem, they pursued a solution and ultimately founded a thriving business. The founders serve as an inspiring example of how vision, resilience, and strategic thinking can lead to remarkable success.

The Trio Europeans are not only entrepreneurs but also inspiration to everyone.