Glasgow-based Smart Metering Systems plc announced two strategic investments, accelerating the group’s capabilities in the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure asset class and further expanding its service offering in energy data management.

SMS has invested an initial £2 million to acquire a 25% shareholding in Clenergy EV, a software business with a Charge Point Operator (CPO) platform focused on EV charging infrastructure.

Clenergy EV’s customer base is in the public charging and fleet sectors, with its platform currently being used in more than 1,000 EV chargers across the UK.

SMS has the option to invest a further £2 million after one year, leading to the acquisition of an additional 26% interest, and has an option to acquire the remaining shares after five years.

SMS has separately acquired 100% of n3rgy Data Ltd, a data software company, for £1.4 million.

n3rgy’s software (SaaS) platform enables and facilitates the use of energy consumption, generation and tariff data from smart meters registered on the Data Communications Company (DCC) platform.

This data is then used for settlement, billing, energy management and a growing market of wider applications and services.

An additional £800,000 deferred consideration will be payable by SMS subject to n3rgy achieving certain performance targets.

SMS CEO Tim Mortlock said: “These two strategic investments are highly complementary to the existing SMS business and will significantly enhance our propositions in EV charging and energy data management, continuing the momentum in developing our CaRe products and services.

“Our investment in Clenergy EV will help to accelerate our advancement into the highly attractive EV charging market and the acquisition of n3rgy enables us to build on our strong existing position in energy data solutions.”