Startup vision
EVA business members create a new EV charging platform
When Dwi Sutandar and Lin Sun Fa grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, the beaches were long and beautiful but the ocean was so contaminated no one could swim in it.
“I live in Seattle and I’ve traveled to Florida and the water has always been crystal clear,” said Sutandar, who arrived in the U.S with a scholarship to study chemical engineering at Purdue University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “In Jakarta, the water is brown and there’s garbage floating on top. Living in a clean environment in Indonesia is a privilege, not a right.”
It’s not surprising, then, that within a few years of arriving in the U.S., Sutandar and Fa, along with fellow Purdue student Christopher Jing, launched AeonCharge, a platform enabling electric vehicle (EV) drivers to locate, activate, and pay for charging sessions across different providers with two simple taps, all on one app.
Jing, Sutandar, and Fa (holding company mascot) at Purdue University
“The dream is to make public charging more convenient and increase EV adoption,” said Fa. “EVs are just so critical to achieving sustainable living and a lower carbon footprint.”
“Our end goal is a universal passport,” explained Sutandar. “AeonCharge can already access four of the larger networks that comprise 60% of all charging networks in the country. We’re hoping to get to 90% in 2024.”
Indonesia to Indiana to Innovation
Sutandar and Fa left Jakarta for Purdue at approximately the same time, meeting when they both became involved in a college chapter of an international nonprofit focusing on achieving water access through solar power in developing countries. Over a summer break, the two students worked together on a solar project in a small, remote village six hours from Jakarta.
Back in Indiana, they moved into the startup space, where they met Jing, who has an extensive background in online business.
“I’ve always been passionate about startups and their ability to impact and benefit the world,” said Jing, who founded his first company—an online consulting/social group with over 5000 users—while in high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “A lot of the people who used the network would talk about how it changed their lives.”
While still at Purdue, Sutandar, Fa, and Jing launched AeonCharge, all three young men eventually moving to Seattle after graduation.
“We had a few locations in mind for AeonCharge and we made a decision based on a range of criteria, from market opportunity and EV potential to start-up infrastructure,” Jing said. “Seattle came up on top.”
Connecting to the EV community
Working from a number of Seattle area coworking spaces, the AeonCharge founders have been supported by more than 20 EV companies and organizations to improve their app and the charging experience.
“We like to say that we’re EV drivers for EV drivers,” Fa said, noting that AeonCharge has recently become a business sponsor of the Electric Auto Association. “We’ve appreciated the constant feedback from EV clubs, including the EVA, It’s been a great help as we move forward.”
Additionally, the three are now going through Y Combinator’s W22 accelerator program. “Accelerators are essentially boot camps for startups. They can really speed up your growth,” Jing remarked.
“We’re aiming to launch our product to the whole U.S. in 2022,” said Fa, explaining that Aeoncharge price matches the rates charged by the charging providers.
“Working at a startup is incredibly dynamic,” Sutandar concluded. “We’re all wearing a lot of different hats. It’s fast-paced work but ultimately very rewarding. We feel like we’re on our way to making a difference.”