Oomi Maximizes Charging Business Opportunities with Virta

Thanks to Virta's comprehensive Branded service, Finland's third-largest electricity seller, Oomi, can now focus on reselling and business growth. Oomi sells electricity, solar power panels, and energy solutions at competitive prices, with e-mobility services a key part of their offering.

With e-mobility accelerating, Oomi were keen to find their place in the market and act as a reseller of EV charging solutions throughout Finland, offering EV charging to workplaces, housing co-operatives, and homeowners on a turnkey basis. To find a suitable partner, Oomi had discussions with several potential companies. In the end, the Virta stood out from the rest because of its clear vision of the future and where the electric car charging market is going.

“Virta is a reliable and experienced global player with a track-record to match. Virta was able to assure us that they can stay one step ahead and develop their platform quickly,” says Timo Kenttälä, Product Manager at Oomi Energy.

Ultimately, the deciding factor was Virta’s unique solution called Branded, which includes much more than just the chargers. Operating a traditional charging service comes with a heavy load of responsibilities: customer support, technical problem solving, payments, customer credit risk, roaming services, and charger management to mention a few. Building the necessary capabilities and organization takes time and money. But Virta Branded solution helps to make this easy – as Virta takes care of all the responsibilities and technical complexities of running the service.

In other words, with a Branded solution, Oomi can take advantage of all the benefits of being an e-mobility service provider without the responsibilities related to running the business. And, in the Virta Branded solution, the entire charging experience is, as the name implies, branded for Oomi.

The first months at Oomi have been fast-paced. One of Oomi's customers is SOK Hämeenmaa, which belongs to Finland’s largest retail group S-Group, and branded Oomi charging points, powered by the Virta platform, can already be found in SOK Hämeenmaa's key retail locations.

This autumn, the first two SOK Hämeenmaa ABC petrol stations have also received 150kW fast-charging stations which are still a rarity in Finland. Virta UFC High Power Charger is a 150-kilowatt ultrafast charging station with 2 CCS plugs. The charging station can therefore charge two electric cars at the same time.

"Together with Virta, we are building an efficient charging infrastructure in Finland, which makes driving long distances with electric cars worry-free," says Kenttälä.

Oomi Energy mapped out options and discussed it with several companies. Virta Branded solution stood out. Virta’s solid experience, global know-how, the scope of the charging network, scalability, and the capabilities to develop the platform were in a class of their own. Virta Branded solution enables Oomi to outsource all of the numerous responsibilities and tasks related to running the charging business. With the Branded solution, Oomi can take advantage of all the benefits of being an e-mobility service provider without the responsibilities related to running the business.

About Virta

Virta is the forerunner in electric vehicle charging platform technologies. Over 300 customers with over 50 EV charging brands from 28 countries are currently operating their EV charging services on the Virta platform. The company has been ranked as the fastest-growing electric vehicle charging platform in Europe by the Financial Times on its 2020 FT 1000 list. Virta's technology has received several awards. The company has been recognized as the best Energy brand at Charge Awards 2018 and received the Technology Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan consulting. www.virta.global/