Being an avid EV driver herself, Maria Høpfner is no stranger to the everyday benefits that come with eMobility – as well as common charging concerns. But from a professional standpoint, Maria is brand new to the eMobility industry. That hasn’t stopped her from diving straight into the deep end, though, as she’s recently taken on the role of Spirii’s new Head of Solution Roll-Out.
So what brought Maria to a company like Spirii? And what does her arrival mean for our partner program? We sat down with Maria to ask a few burning questions…
Making the transition
At Spirii, Maria will be putting her impressive leadership capabilities and business relations skills to work on our growing catalogue of trusted partners. And, with more than two decades of experience in IT and technology-based services under her belt, Maria knows what it takes to scale solutions on an international level.
But Spirii is Maria’s first startup. So why make the jump?
“First and foremost,” she says, “I was inspired by how far Spirii has come in a very short amount of time.”
And that’s a fair point! Spirii has entered 14 new markets, reached 250+ partners, and enabled an annual partner revenue growth of over 300% – all since its inception in 2019. But, perhaps even more important to Maria than Spirii’s growth is the sector in which it operates – and what that represents.
“I think it’s exciting to work in such an important industry,” she explains, “with sustainability front and center.”
Spirii’s aim is to enable smart and easy access to EV charging around the globe, in order to reach a more sustainable future as quickly and intelligently as possible. And Maria tells us it’s that ethos, coupled with our vision to scale at an ambitious rate, that really sold her on making the transition:
“It was important to me that the work was on an international scale, and that it was agile. And what really excited me was that I’d be working with some inspiring colleagues, that have been in eMobility since the beginning” she says.
So that’s rapid growth and inspiringly sustainable goals on the checklist. The last part of the puzzle is our partners. Spirii is all about partnerships, after all – it’s what enables our wide-reaching network and frictionless charging.
Maria knew right off the bat that her comprehensive skills and in-depth experience could help take Spirii’s partnerships to a new level, but what exactly does she have planned?
Momentum and potential
Maria has years of experience with helping partner companies of all shapes and sizes enter new markets, and she really thrives in enabling and supporting those journeys.
“There’s so much momentum and potential to take advantage of here,” she says, adding that she’s really excited to be able to combine her experience in other fields with new insights from the world of eMobility. “Every learning is gold in an industry that’s new to so many businesses.”
A part of the role will be to strengthen the incredible partner relations we already have, but with Spirii’s market knowledge and technical experience on her side, Maria is also excited to forge partnerships, in entirely new markets.
“In the Nordics, we have the advantage of being ahead of the pack when it comes to EV charging,” she adds, “which means we have in-depth knowledge about drivers and their needs. And that’s incredibly valuable knowledge for any new partner or market.”
In other words? The rest of Europe is starting to follow our lead. “And the United States is just beginning to move now as well,” Maria points out.
Driving both existing and new partnerships will be right at the heart of Maria’s focus, then – as will engaging with the wider team here at Spirii.
Speaking of which: what does Maria have to say about being a member of the team at Spirii?
An electric, empathetic working culture
“Everyone knows everyone at Spirii,” Maria says of the working culture here, adding that it was a bit surprising for her, having come from larger corporate environments. Still, with over 100 employees, Maria thinks that this communal vibe is pretty unique:
“I don’t know all of my new Spirii-colleagues that well yet,” she says, “but one thing’s clear to me: at Spirii, there’s room for anyone with the right skills and ambitions – absolutely anyone.”
She’s not wrong. With more than 20 nationalities and backgrounds across our various teams, Spirii welcomes anyone wanting to contribute to our journey.
And, despite the variety on show in terms of skills and experience, Maria says she can see that all her new colleagues have one big thing in common: everyone here is “incredibly accommodating and eager to help from day one.”
“That helpful spirit is clearly a deep foundation for Spirii,” she says, “as is the mutual acknowledgment that we all need to depend on one another in order to enable Spirii’s mission.”
As a quickly-growing tech startup experiencing immense interest and demand, it’s crucial that everyone at Spirii supports one another across teams. And that – as Maria puts it – means “everyone is working 100% towards the same goal.”
That all-hands attitude comes into everything we do here at Spirii – whether it’s solving technical challenges for charge point operators, improving the charging experience for EV drivers, or, as Maria will soon find out, jumping in to help bring new partners to an emerging industry.
We can’t wait to get to know Maria even better, and to follow her incredible efforts here at Spirii with both colleagues and partners!