Investors and funding

mistral-ai-nears-$2b-valuation-—-less-than-12-months-after-founding

Mistral AI nears $2B valuation — less than 12 months after founding

Artificial Intelligence, Deep tech, Europe, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

European contributions might have been a little late to join the generative AI investment party, but that does not mean they will not end up rivalling some of the earlier North American frontrunners. According to people familiar with the matter, Mistral AI, the French genAI seed-funding sensation, is just about to conclude the raising of about €450mn from investors. 

Unlike Germany’s Aleph Alpha who just raised a similar sum, most investors come from beyond the confines of the continent. The round is led by Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, and also includes backing from Nvidia and Salesforce. 

Sources close to the deal told Bloomberg that Andreessen Horowitz would invest €200mn in funding, whereas Nvidia and Salesforce would be down for €120mn in convertible debt, although this was still subject to change. If it goes through, this would value the Paris-based startup at nearly $2bn — less than a year after it was founded. 

Mistral AI was one of the few European AI companies to participate in the UK’s AI Safety Summit held at Bletchley Park last month. The generative AI startup released its first large language model (LLM), Mistral 7B, under the open source Apache 2.0 licence in September. 

Targeting dev space with smaller size LLMs

The key thing that sets Mistral apart is that it is specifically building smaller models that target the developer space. Speaking at the SLUSH conference in Helsinki last week, co-founder and CEO Arthur Mensch said this was exactly what separates the philosophy of the company from its competitors.

“You can start with a very big model with hundreds of billions of parameters — maybe it’s going to solve your task. But you could actually have something which is a hundred times smaller,” Mensch stated. “And when you make a production application that targets a lot of users, you want to make choices that lower the latency, lower the costs, and leverage the actual populated data that you may have. And this is something that I think is not the topic of our competitors — they’re really targeting multi-usage, very large models.”



Mensch, who previously worked for Google DeepMind, added that this approach would also allow for strong differentiation through proprietary data, a key factor for actors to survive in the mature application market space. 

Mistral AI and the reported investors have all declined to comment on the potential proceedings.

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Climate tech gets 70% of ‘built world’ VC investment, report finds

Europe, Investors and funding, Sustainability / /

We have all seen the gloomy headlines over the past week. VC funding for European tech startups will have dropped by a whopping $45bn in 2023. However, some sectors, such as build world climate tech are faring… less horribly than others. 

Specifically, a new report by sustainability investor A/O released today has found that despite the global downturn, climate tech is attracting as much as 70% of built world VC investment — up from around only 20% five years ago. In addition, investment in early stage rounds in European startups in the sector has, for the first time, exceeded that in North America. 

The built world includes anything that is human-made and created to adapt the natural environment into a habitable and usable area for the purpose of living, working, and playing. This includes architecture and parks, and covers everything from road infrastructure to building construction and operations. Nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings — a number that is set to double by 2050 if left unchecked. 

According to the report by A/O, the largest European built world VC firm, the trend has been driven by the energy crisis along with mounting pressures from regulators to decarbonise the real estate and construction industries. 

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Indeed, while total venture capital funding has dropped by over 30% in the first half of 2023, and climate tech overall lost 40%, built world climate tech only saw a 13% decrease in funding. 

“The built world is not immune to the wider macroeconomic challenges in the tech and startup world in 2023,” Gregory Dewerpe, Managing Partner at London-based A/O commented. “However, climate themes have proven more resilient relative to the wider venture market, and within the built world specifically, we have observed both a more muted downturn and faster recovery.”

Meanwhile, not all themes throughout the sector fared equally well. While retrofit installers, grid storage, infrastructure monitoring, and renewable energy procurement continue to see the most investment, areas such as water efficiency and heat pump technology remain significantly underfunded. 

The report also found that for the first time Europe and North America now see the same dollars invested for early stage built world climate tech. Germany and the UK grew significantly (+73% and +27% respectively), while the US contracted (-32%). Indeed, the top three cities for dollars invested were all European — London, Berlin, and Munich. 

“It’s great to see Europe’s ecosystem continue to grow with early-stage investment in Europe on par with North America for the first time, showcasing that some of the most exciting innovation is coming out of the continent,” Dewerpe continued. 

On a more sombre note, later-stage rounds have suffered the most with total investment volumes and median deal size dropping -53%.

Climate tech gets 70% of ‘built world’ VC investment, report finds Read More »

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Europe has more AI talent than US, study finds

Ecosystems, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

European tech is starting to bounce back — and AI is turbocharging the recovery.

The continent is now home to more highly skilled professionals in the field than the US, according to new research by Atomico, a VC firm headquartered in the UK.

This overtaking follows a decade of rapid progress. Over the past 10 years, the number of people working in artificial intelligence across Europe has increased by a whopping 1,000%.

This talent pipeline is now flowing into some impressive startups. In 2023, AI companies raised 11 of Europe’s 36 mega-rounds of $100mn or more. They include France’s Mistral AI, which bagged €105mn in the continent’s largest-ever seed round, and Aleph Alpha, which this month secured €460m in Series B funding.

The pattern extends into the new herd of European unicorns. Of the seven companies to reach a valuation of $1 billion this year, four focus on artificial intelligence: DeepL, Helsing.ai, Synthesia, and Quantexa. Their successes have helped Europe’s ecosystem rebound to a total value of $3 trillion — equalling its 2021 peak.

“The European tech environment today looks more stable than it has at any point since the onset of the pandemic,” Tom Wehmeier, Atomico’s head of intelligence, told TNW. “And that brings with it a greater amount of certainty, predictability, and general confidence throughout the ecosystem.”

Graph showing Europe has more AI talent than the US

AI isn’t the only field with an impressive talent pool. Despite a brutal series of layoffs earlier this year, there’s been a net growth in the number of European tech workers. This means the rate of job creation is more than offsetting the redundancies.

It also continues an impressive recent spell of expansion. In the last five years, Europe’s IT workforce has grown from 750,000 employees to more than 2.3 million today.

One reason for this rise comes from across the Atlantic. According to Atomico’s data, Europe is now a net beneficiary of tech talent from the US.

“There’s always been this myth that Europe sees a big exodus of talent to the US,” Wehmeier said. “But when you look at their data, it shows that the inverse is actually true.”

Graph showing growing rates of AI investment in Europe and the US

The tech talent has sparked an explosive growth in new startups. This year, Europe has produced an estimated 14,000 new founders — 1,000 more than in the US.

Unfortunately, the continent’s investor landscape can’t yet match the ambitions of its founders. In the US, startups are 40% more likely to raise VC funding within their first five years. Yet once companies secure an initial seed investment, the chances of them reaching a billion-dollar valuation are the same in Europe as they are in the US.

It all makes a strong case for better access to institutional investments. As Atomico notes, funding a single company can have a generational effect.

Skype provides a powerful European example. Entrepreneurs from the firm’s alumni network have gone on to launch more than 900 companies across 50 countries. Atomico calls this phenomenon the “flywheel effect.”

“It’s an astonishing reflection of the ability of a single company to move the needle for the ecosystem,” Wehmeier said.  “And given that Europe’s had 111 billion-dollar exits over the past five years, you really get a sense of the extent to which that flywheel is going to keep spinning.”

Nonetheless, the flywheel could certainly do with more greasing from investors.

Europe has more AI talent than US, study finds Read More »

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European VC ecosystem heavily biased against female founders

Ecosystems, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Among the barriers European tech has to overcome, gender diversity is undoubtedly a pressing one. The numbers are telling. So far in 2023, female-founded startups have raised less than 2% of the total VC capital in Europe.

A new study by global early-stage VC firm Antler shows that, unsurprisingly, female founders have to routinely deal with gender bias.

Antler surveyed founders based in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and the UK on their recent experience with angels and VCs. All of the respondents said that the European investor ecosystem is biased against women.

Specifically, two-thirds (64%) of the founders reported that their gender has actively made it difficult to raise investment. At the same time, a third (32%) have felt the need to call out investors for unconscious bias during pitching meetings.

Diversity is a critical factor lacking in European venture capital.

The picture gets even grimmer: a whopping 72% of the respondents also said that they have been asked questions that male founders wouldn’t have been asked. These included inquiries about family planning and pregnancy.

“Why do conversations about female founders immediately lead to conversations about combining the journey with having a family?,” commented Karolina Ling-Vannerus, founder of Sweden-based sustainable packaging startup Circulate, who took part in the survey.

“I don’t understand why we always worry and think it’s women in their 30s-40s who have families, when it takes two to tango? Provided that the vast majority of families are heterosexual couples, there are just as many men affected? So this equally applies to ALL talent in our 30s-40s regardless of gender?”

Meanwhile, the vast majority of respondents (95%) called on VCs to hire more female investors as a means to driving positive change. The founders also suggested data transparency on diversity, the inclusion of parental leave policies in investment terms, and promoting women’s success stories through social channels.

“Diversity is a critical factor lacking in European venture capital. In 2022, only 1.8% went to female founders, and 12% to mixed founders, revealing blind spots in the ecosystem,” said Sarah Finegan, Director at Antler.

For Finegan, to cultivate a more inclusive VC ecosystem, it is “essential to prioritise representation.” “We’re seeing lots of positive change in the industry already, but more needs to be done,” she told TNW. “A more inclusive VC ecosystem will support a new generation of diverse tech founders which will be great news for European tech.”

Studies have shown that female-led companies tend to return higher revenues, while scaleups founded by women in Europe have not only seen their value increase almost 6.5 times in the past five years, but have also grown 1.2 times faster than other scaleups. This means that investing in female entrepreneurship is as much a prerequisite for social equality, as it is good for business.

European VC ecosystem heavily biased against female founders Read More »

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Want engineering superpowers? This GenAI startup is here to help

Artificial Intelligence, Deep tech, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Say the application that has not been attributed to generative AI by now. Anything from your virtual boyfriend/girlfriend to vaccines and the energy transition will apparently be solved by the tech currently sweeping the globe. PhysicsX, a UK-based startup “on a mission to reimagine simulation for science and engineering using AI,” wants to add advanced tech superpowers to the list.

The company, with a team of more than 50 simulation engineers, machine learning and software engineers, and data scientists is building AI it says will dramatically accelerate accurate physics simulation. This will enable generative engineering solutions for sectors including aerospace, automotive, renewables, and materials production. 

PhysicsX says it is looking to solve engineering bottlenecks. These include time-consuming physics simulation, painstaking reconciliation of virtual simulation and real-world data collection, as well as the many limitations of optimising over a large design space. 

The company, co-founded by theoretical physicist and former head of R&D at Formula One team Renault (Alpine) Robin Tuluie, just announced a €30mn Series A funding round led by US-based VC firm General Catalyst. 

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“Engineering design processes were transformed by numerical simulation and the availability of high-performance compute infrastructure,” Tuluie, also the company’s co-CEO, commented.



“The move from numerical simulation to deep learning represents a similar leap and will unlock new levels of product performance and ways of practising engineering itself. PhysicsX exists to help pioneer and enable that transformation, giving engineers and manufacturers superpowers in bringing new technologies to the real world.” 

Coming up against the limit of today’s computational tools

Standard Industries, NGP Energy, Radius Capital, and KKR co-founder and co-executive chairman, Henry Kravis, also participated in the round. The capital will allow PhysicsX to grow across customer delivery and product. It will also support its fundamental research to advance its AI models and methods. 

“Our customers are designing the most important technologies of our time, including wind turbines, aircraft engines, electric vehicles, semiconductors, metals, and biofuels,” Jacomo Corbo, co-founder and co-CEO, said. However, they are now exceeding the limits of today’s computer aided tools, which is what PhysicsX has set its technology against. 

“We’re delighted that this financing will enable us to partner more deeply with our customers to enable breakthrough engineering,” Corbo added. 

Want engineering superpowers? This GenAI startup is here to help Read More »

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When it comes to startups, little Luxembourg packs a big punch

Corporates and innovation, Ecosystems, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Sandwiched between Germany, France, and Belgium, the tiny country of Luxembourg is one of Europe’s smallest, but also its wealthiest — its residents enjoy the second-highest per capita income in the world.

Key to this success is its thriving financial services sector which has helped draw several big names to the Grand Duchy, including the European Investment Bank and Amazon. It’s no surprise then that fintech has been identified as the tech sector with the greatest growth potential in the region. 

Luxembourg was also one of the world’s biggest investors in AI per capita in 2021, surpassed only by Israel, the US, and Sweden (in that order). The National Research Fund has allocated €200mn to AI research projects over the past five years. To help power these advancements is Meluxina, one of Europe’s most powerful supercomputers.  

While only home to 600,000 people, Luxembourg’s thriving economy, modern infrastructure, international workforce, and generous government grants, which cover up to 80% of R&D costs, allow it to punch above its weight as a hub for emerging tech startups.   

Well-known success stories include social media analytics and monitoring tool Talkwalker, and online jobs board JobToday. OCSiAI, a producer of graphene nanotubes, made headlines in 2019 when it joined Europe’s growing list of tech unicorns.  

an image of the house of startups in Luxembourg
Located in downtown Luxembourg City, House of Startups is the epicentre of the country’s tech ecosystem. Credit: House of Startups

“Although Luxembourg is a small country, it shares its borders with two of Europe’s biggest economies,” pointed out Kenneth Graham, CEO of Tomorrowstreet, a Luxembourg-based innovation centre that focuses on scaling late-stage deep tech startups.  

“Half the population come from somewhere else and many have connections with people all over the world, including Silicon Valley and the UK. This diversity of thought really makes the country a special place to do business,” he said. 

Almost 50% of Luxembourg’s workforce commute from neighbouring countries, and 80% of the population speaks English.

A 2022 report from Startup Genome found that startup funding deals in Luxembourg increased five-fold between 2012 and 2021. Notably, the availability of seed funding in the country is considerably higher when compared to peers with similar-sized economies. Although it performs worse when it comes to later-stage investments.

This growth is undoubtedly partly thanks to the emergence of multiple startup initiatives in recent years, such as the government-backed Fit4Star program. Another is House of Startups, a place where incubators, accelerators, investors, and startups are all housed under one roof in the downtown Gare district of Luxembourg City. Funded by the Chamber of Commerce, the centre houses a whopping 200 of the country’s 521 tech startups.  

All of this puts Luxembourg’s tech ecosystem on track to continue its upward growth trajectory in coming years, not just in fintech but also SaaS, climatetech, spacetech, and manufacturing.

Five startups to watch  

1. Circu Li-ion

Founded just two years ago, this climatetech startup has developed an automated upcycling solution that enables the sustainable recycling of lithium-ion cells for reuse at scale. Last month, the company raised €8.5mn in seed funding.

Circu Li-ion’s services come at an opportune moment for the company (and the planet), following the EU’s new battery regulation, which aims to ensure a circular economy and will require mandatory minimum levels of recycled elements for EV batteries.  

2. Salonkee 

Founded in 2016, Salonkee has developed an online reservation platform to streamline the booking of hair or beauty appointments. The startup has raised €35mn so far and is already profitable. It currently has 110 employees across offices in Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. 

3. Next Gate Tech

Next Gate Tech is a data-driven fintech that provides SaaS solutions for the asset management industry. Basically, it helps banks and the like automate the boring and repetitive aspects of data management (I thought it was all boring!). Since launching in 2020, the startup has raised €17mn, and is valued at close to €50mn, according to data from Dealroom.

4. OQ Tech

This spacetech startup has developed a constellation of satellites that allow IoT devices on Earth to stay connected even when there is no cellphone reception. It can also support bi-directional communication to machines such as banking ATMs in poor connectivity areas. Five of the company’s satellites are already in orbit. Oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco is OQ Tech’s largest customer and invested €13mn into the startup last year.  

5. nZero

Last but not least is nZero, a carbon management platform that gives NGOs, government agencies, and organisations accurate data on their carbon emissions. It offers insights across all three emissions scopes, including embodied carbon which is often left out from many carbon calculating tools. So far the company has raised €15mn and racked in almost €8mn in revenues last year. 

When it comes to startups, little Luxembourg packs a big punch Read More »

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UK’s quantum plans could ‘unlock billions — and a geopolitical advantage’

Deep tech, Government and policy, Investors and funding, Next Featured, Startups and technology / /

The UK’s new quantum computing missions have been praised as “visionary” and “exciting” plans that can reap financial and geopolitical benefits.

The five long-term moonshots were launched today by the British government.

The first aims to build quantum computers that can run 1 trillion operations by 2035. Another with a deadline for that year is deploying the world’s most advanced quantum network at scale. This initiative aims to pioneer the future quantum internet.

Three other projects have an earlier target date of 2030.

One plans to provide quantum sensing-enabled solutions to every local National Health Service organisation, for use in early diagnosis and treatment of chronic illnesses.

The second intends to equip aircraft with quantum navigation systems. The third aims to unlock new situational awareness with mobile, networked quantum sensors. This would be integrated into critical infrastructure.

Startups and investors welcomed the ambitious plans.

“The missions are bold and contain some genuinely exciting and visionary thinking,” said Stuart Woods, COO of Quantum Exponential, a VC fund and accelerator for the sector.

“The plan to implement quantum technology wide scale in the NHS to save money is particularly welcome and our expertise in medical quantum sensing is already world-class — this could greatly accelerate point-of-care diagnostics.”

Analysts have also pointed to the economic benefits. According to McKinsey, quantum computing could create $1.3 trillion ($1.2 trillion) in value by 2035. To maximise its share of that money, the British government is taking a targeted approach.

“The UK can’t outspend the United States, China or the European Union,” Steve Brierley, the CEO of quantum startup Riverlane, told TNW.

“As a nation, we’re unlikely to even outspend some of the US and China’s individual technology giants. But with a focused approach as outlined today, the UK quantum computing industry can work to solve the scaling problem for all quantum computers globally.”

The politics of quantum computing

Not everyone is a fan of the plans. Critics argue that governments should minimise their direct involvement in technological development. Instead, they want politicians to focus on fostering the broader investment environment, by providing tax incentives and improving infrastructure.

Brierley would like both forms of support. He points to the examples set in the US, where the government has built NASA for aerospace advances, IARAP for intelligence technologies, DARPA for defence tech, and national labs for supercomputing.

The impact of these bodies has spread far beyond their founding missions. They’ve introduced innovations ranging from GPS and smartphone cameras to a little something called “the internet.”

“Emerging technologies with enormous potential often first need public seed investment to take it from development to commercial stages,” Brierley said. “If done right, early government investment can unlock industries worth billions in the long-term as well as geopolitical advantage.”

That investment, however, remains a concern. Funding for the new missions will reportedly come from the £2.5 billion (€2.86bn) that was previously committed to a 10-year national quantum strategy. Woods believes the ambitious missions will need a bigger cash injection.

“While it’s encouraging to see a commitment from the government across the spectrum of quantum technologies, it is simply not practical for the UK to strive for ‘world-leading’ status in such a range of deep technologies with a £2.5bn, inadequately defined national quantum strategy,” he said.

UK’s quantum plans could ‘unlock billions — and a geopolitical advantage’ Read More »

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These AI agents could cut your workweek to just 3 days

Artificial Intelligence, Corporates and innovation, Deep tech, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Most of us would love a break from the 9-to-5 grind, evidenced by the recent hype over the four-day workweek. But a new startup from the UK promises to help you toil even less than that — while remaining just as productive.  

The company is called Tomoro and it’s on a mission to cut the working week to just three days within the next five years. It aims to achieve this using AI “agents” — essentially, large language models (LLMs) which can freely make decisions within defined guardrails, as opposed to rule-based machines. These agents will act like robotic personal assistants.

“We’re not talking about simple automation or the removal of repetitive tasks,” explained founder Ed Broussard. “Tomoro will be integrating synthetic employees into businesses alongside real people that have the ability to reason, grow, increase their knowledge, adapt their tone and problem solve. This is a huge departure from what’s currently on the market.”

Originally from Scotland, Broussard is best known as the founder of data and AI consultancy Mudano, which was acquired by Accenture in 2020 for an undisclosed sum. The entrepreneur’s latest venture, Tomoro, is working “in alliance” with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT (which just sacked its CEO Sam Altman in one of tech’s biggest upsets this year). 

Headquartered in London, Tomoro claims it has no intention to replace people’s jobs but only to enhance their productivity. “We need to stop thinking about AI as a like for like job replacement — its value extends far beyond that,” he said. Tomoro aims to accelerate workplace efficiency at large corporations by up to eight times the current rate.

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To execute its ambitious plan, Tomoro says it will recruit a “world class” R&D team, leaders in behavioural science, and AI experts. Having launched just this week, the company has already secured its first client, British insurance firm PremFina.

“AI is as big a societal shift as the invention of farming,” added Broussard. “Imagine telling a hunter-gatherer that in the future there would be an abundance of food, and it would take no effort to eat. That’s what AI will do for productivity in the workplace.” 

The launch of Tomoro comes just weeks after Elon Musk said that he believed AI would replace all jobs in the future and we would all live on a universal income (doing god knows what with all that free time). 

For Broussard, however, the future of the workplace is AI working in tandem with its human overlords.

These AI agents could cut your workweek to just 3 days Read More »

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Finnish startup races to map spread of ‘silent pandemic’ killing millions each year

Corporates and innovation, Ecosystems, Investors and funding, Startups and technology / /

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was directly responsible for over 1 million fatalities in 2019, and the death toll keeps rising. It occurs when bacteria become resilient to antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat — or in some cases impossible. 

In Finland, scientist Windi Muziasari has made it her mission to tackle this “silent pandemic.” 

In 2018, after completing her PhD studies at the University of Helsinki, Muziasari founded Resistomap — a tool to help doctors and researchers track the global distribution of antibiotic resistance in the environment. Since then, the startup has compiled a database of over 10,000 environmental samples across 45 countries worldwide, one of the largest of its kind. 

Basically, the scientists at Resistomap collect samples from sites like water treatment plants, hospitals, and farms to test for the presence of bacteria containing antibiotic-resistant genes. Many of these facilities have a high presence of resistant bacteria but don’t test for them regularly or only test for certain types. 

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For hospitals, for instance, Resistomap conducts continuous resistance monitoring and recommends preventative measures to limit the spread of these bacteria. It does this by installing an automatic wastewater sampler in the sewer system of the healthcare facility which collects samples for testing at the company’s lab in Helsinki.

Samples are then analysed using a high-throughput qPCR system (a technology used for measuring DNA) to detect and quantify antibiotic resistance genes‍. Results are then displayed on an interactive dashboard which helps authorities identify potential areas for intervention. But that’s just the beginning. 

The startup announced today it has secured €2mn in a seed funding round which it will use to develop the company into a biosecurity intelligence platform. This platform will feature the integration of early-warning systems, in-depth genetic results, advanced prediction models, and personalised recommendations for reducing the spread of AMR.  

Going forward, Resistomap plans to expand to other diseases. “Our vision goes beyond AMR to build a comprehensive biosecurity platform that addresses a diverse array of disease-causing pathogens, encompassing both those already identified and those that remain undiscovered,” said Muziasari.

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Norway’s Otovo bags €40M to grow rent-to-own solar marketplace

Corporates and innovation, Investors and funding, Startups and technology, Sustainability / /

Norway-headquartered Otovo has secured €40mn to expand its rent-to-buy online marketplace for solar panels, as it seeks to cash in on booming demand from homeowners looking to slash their energy bills.

Otovo rents out solar panels and inverters at a fixed monthly cost, which includes all repairs and maintenance. It also offers the option to purchase the panels outright.

The platform, currently available 13 European countries, uses satellite data and mapping information to calculate how much sunlight a section of your roof receives and the corresponding energy produced, as well as the size, shape, and specification of suitable rooftop solar products. Then it finds the best price and solar installer for the job in your area.  

Between 2010 and 2020, the price of solar electricity dropped 89% to become the cheapest energy source in history. As gas prices soar, homeowners are increasingly looking to solar panels to increase their energy security, cut costs, and boost the value of their properties. Rooftop solar added 25 GW of capacity in 2022, 8 GW more than in 2021, according to industry body SolarPower Europe.

But even though solar panels are comparatively cheap, they still present a significant upfront cost. Currently, in the EU it costs roughly € 10,000 for a photovoltaic system capable of catering to the energy needs of a 3-bedroom house. Otovo’s rent-to-buy option looks to flatten this financial barrier.

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The Oslo-based company now plans to use the fresh funding to ensure its path to reach profitability and to take the number one position in the European residential solar market, it said. 

“The equity raise allows Otovo to aggressively pursue the opportunities given by an energy market in which the cost of building new solar energy is at an all-time low, traditional energy prices are rising and consumers are looking for ways to cut their expenses,” said Otovo CEO, Andreas Thorsheim. 

The round was led by existing shareholders Å Energy, Axel Johnson Group, and Nysnø, the Norwegian government’s Climate Investment Fund.  

This latest raise brings Otovo’s total funding to €231mn, according to Crunchbase data. The company went public in 2021 after listing on the Euronext Growth stock exchange.

From the top investors in this latest round, Nordic energy utility Å Energi was allocated shares worth 22.4mn, Axel Johnson Group for €8.7m, and the state climate fund Nysnø for €2.4mn.

Norway’s Otovo bags €40M to grow rent-to-own solar marketplace Read More »

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World’s biggest tidal energy ‘kite’ could single-handedly power a small town

Investors and funding, Startups and technology, Sustainability / /

People have been harnessing tidal energy for milling grain for more than 1,000 years. As you’d imagine though, today’s contraptions for tapping this 24/7 power source are a little more sophisticated. 

One of the most eye-catching designs to emerge in recent years is a giant metal ‘kite’ which swims underwater against the current, turning its rotor and generating electricity. Power is then sent to the grid via a subsea cable which also acts as the kite’s tether. 

The biggest of these kites ever built, known as Dragon 12, is about to be installed off the Faroe Islands. With a wingspan of (you guessed it) 12 metres, the Dragon is expected to generate 1.2MW of clean electricity once operational — enough to power around 1,000 homes. The kite is now being shipped from Sweden to the Faroe Islands for installation.

The kite was first designed by carmaker Saab and then commercialised in 2007 by Swedish startup Minesto, which has been refining the technology ever since. With more than €40mn of funding from the European Regional Development Fund, Minesto claims to be the EU’s largest investment in marine energy to date.

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Despite offering huge potential for renewable energy generation, tidal stream technology is still largely underutilised. This is partly because harnessing the ebb and flow of the ocean has historically involved the construction of expensive barges or instream turbines (essentially wind turbines tethered to the seabed) that can have adverse impacts on ocean life.  

What differentiates Minesto’s technology, say its creators, is that it is relatively small, modular, and scalable. Similarly to how a kite travels through the air, the tidal turbine moves in a figure-of-eight motion through the water several times faster than the actual speed of the flowing water. Basically, this means it can punch far above its weight in terms of electricity generation. 

Going forward, Minesto, along with local energy utility SEV, aims to build 120MW of tidal kite capacity in the Faroe Islands. This array, which would be made up of around 100 individual kites, could supply 40% of the archipelago’s electricity consumption.

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ESA inks deal with Airbus, Voyager Space to secure place on ISS successor

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ESA inks deal with Airbus, Voyager Space to secure place on ISS successor

The European Space Agency has signed a deal with Airbus and Voyager Space to secure its next home in orbit. 

The two companies are currently developing Starlab, one of several planned replacements for the International Space Station (ISS), which is set to retire in 2030. 

Under the agreement, ESA will assess how the Starlab space station could be used to provide continued access to space for Europe after the retirement of the ISS. ESA would primarily use Starlab for astronaut missions and space-based research. The agency could also potentially provide cargo and crew transportation services for the new space station.

“ESA appreciates the transatlantic industry initiative for the commercial Starlab space station, and the potential that its strong European footprint holds for significant European industrial and institutional contributions to, and use of, said station,” said Josef Aschbacher, the agency’s director general.

Starlab is one of several projects competing to replace the ISS. Its main challengers are Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which envisions a “mixed-use business park” called Orbital Reef, and Northrop Grumman, which wants to build a modular, free-flying space station. NASA has provided funding for all three concepts and will now determine which of the contenders merit further backing. 

Starlab is currently the most attractive option for Europe because of its partnership with French aerospace giant Airbus, which has  track record of supporting European space missions. Airbus most recently supplied the European service module for Orion, Europe’s contribution to NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. 

Having Airbus involved helps not only with the technical development of Starlab, but also its business development, Matthew Kuta, president of Voyager Space previously stated. “We have great relationships with ESA, but clearly Airbus has much better relationships,” he said. 

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