Swift Charge's electric expansion: Leveraging local roots for continental reach

A message from Edmonton Global:

For Sheldon Zhang, the road to international expansion quite literally began in a parking lot at the University of Alberta.

What started as a single pilot project in late 2022 has rapidly accelerated into a cross-border success story. Today electric vehicle charging company Swift Charge operates more than 170 locations featuring nearly 700 charging ports. While it is firmly rooted in the Edmonton region, its footprint now stretches from coast to coast in Canada and deep into the United States, with contracts secured in California, Washington, and Virginia.

Zhang, a veteran of the local startup ecosystem who previously co-founded Yardly, initially engaged with Swift Charge as an angel investor through Startup TNT. However, the potential of the technology, led by co-founder Zhongyi Quan, and the trajectory of the market convinced Zhang to jump into the driver's seat as co-founder and CEO in 2023.

"This is an industry that's going to have exponential growth over the next decade or so," Zhang says. "So far everything proved that I made the right choice."

The company's approach to growth was shaped by its experience at the Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator in California. While the program often pushes startups toward the high-risk, venture-capital-dominated Silicon Valley model, Swift Charge used the experience to pivot toward a different definition of success: sustainability.

"Under the guidelines for the accelerator, we would be considered a failure," Zhang admits, noting that the company didn't chase a massive seed round. Instead, it doubled down on fundamentals. "Our focus is on operations and on really helping customers," Zhang says. "Not relying on external financing sources, to sustainably grow into a meaningful business."

That business is built on two distinct models. First, Swift Charge acts as a charging solutions provider, selling hardware and its proprietary software to businesses that want to manage their own amenities. Second, it acts as a charging station operator, owning the assets and serving EV drivers directly, much like a gas station. Crucially, the company does not manufacture the stations itself. Instead, it works with manufacturers or loads its software onto existing hardware.

"We are able to plug our software into various makes and models of hardware," Zhang says. "We have customers who purchase the hardware from other vendors, but they choose to use our software to manage the payment and usage."

This flexibility has allowed Swift Charge to dominate a specific niche: hospitality.

Read the rest of the story as part of Edmonton Global's Trade Heroes series, which highlights Edmonton region companies who have 'EXPORT-itude' — the mindset and commitment to think globally when it comes to their business.