Ion Mobility secures temporary injunction against ex-COO

Ion Mobility, a maker of smart electric motorbikes, has obtained a temporary injunction against Joel Chang, its former co-founder and employee, according to a Singapore High Court order reviewed by Tech in Asia.

An EV bike from Ion Mobility / Photo credit: Ion Mobility

Chang is temporarily barred from being directly or indirectly involved in the operations of a firm called Charged Asia till the court issues another order in this matter or the completion of the ongoing case, whichever happens first.

The injunction also prevents Chang from being directly or indirectly involved in any capacity in a business in Southeast Asia that competes with Ion Mobility. He also cannot disclose Ion Mobility’s confidential and proprietary information to any third party.

Tech in Asia understands this interim injunction order is part of an ongoing case related to a no-compete agreement between Singapore-based Ion Mobility and Chang.

Company founder and CEO James Chan and Chang parted ways in April 2021, with both citing “professional differences” for the move.

Headquartered in Singapore, Charged Asia describes itself as a direct-to-user scale-up motorcycle manufacturer and distributor for sustainable mobility in Indonesia.

While Charged Asia’s website doesn’t list its leadership team, Chang is named as the firm’s CEO on an investor’s website.

Charged Asia raised US$4.5 million from Singapore-based DeClout Ventures in September 2022. The startup is also backed by Vmoto, a Perth-based global manufacturer and distributor of electric bikes.

“As a general rule, we are not able to comment substantively on the case as it is an ongoing legal matter. As the Order of Court is a matter of public record, however, I can share that we have recently applied for and successfully obtained an interim injunction against our former employee Chang Chung Yhow Joel,” Chan tells Tech in Asia.

Ion Mobility designs and manufactures many of the components for its electric vehicles in-house and places trust in its team, the CEO explains. But the EV sector is “fast-moving and disruptive, which is why we become very protective of our proprietary information,” Chan adds.

“We take all potential breaches of our contracts by former employees very seriously and will not hesitate to pursue all such matters to the fullest extent of the law, be it in Singapore or Indonesia,” he says.

Chang declined to comment on the matter, citing pending court proceedings.