Beringea has invested the cash in the BMW-backed electric vehicle charging company as it looks to expand further into Europe.

Chargemaster, the UK-based electric vehicle (EV) charging company backed by automotive manufacturer BMW, secured £3m ($5.1m) from growth capital firm Beringea on Monday.

Founded in 2008, Chargemaster oversees a charging network comprising more than 10,000 charging points across the UK and a further 4,000 in continental Europe. The funding will support the company as it aims to strengthen its UK operations and expand further into Europe.

BMW iVentures, BMW’s corporate venturing unit, made an undisclosed but “significant” equity investment in Chargemaster in August 2013 as part of a cooperation agreement involving Chargemaster’s stations supporting all BMW’s i brand plug-in EVs.

David Martell, Chargemaster’s chief executive, said: “Chargemaster has demonstrated very significant growth over the last two years and is well positioned to capitalise on the mainstream adoption of electric cars. We are delighted to have received this investment from Beringea which provides a strong endorsement of our number one market position and additional capital to enable us to maintain our strong momentum.”