Stories

Finland-based Virta Ltd, a global leader of the fast-growing Electric Vehicle charging platforms industry*, has secured new €85M growth funding. The funding round is among the biggest in the sector during recent years. The sum consists of €65M equity investment from Virta’s existing investors, led by the private equity firm, Jolt Capital, and co-invested by Future Energy Ventures backed by E.ON., Helen Ventures, Vertex Growth Fund, Finnish Industry Investment, Lahti Energy, Vantaa Energy, and Kotka Energy. 20 million euros will be received from Business Finland, which offers innovation funding for companies and research organizations.

Helen Ventures, Capricorn Partners and energy innovation fund ENERGIIQ are jointly investing €1.9 million in Gradyent, a Dutch energy analytics solution company. Gradyent has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) cloud platform that helps improve the management and efficiency of district heating networks, making them more sustainable and cost-effective. The investment will allow Gradyent to commercialise its services and further develop its innovative software.

Helen Ventures’ Münich-based portfolio company EcoG has closed its Series A financing round.

Mitta Group has acquired Helen Ventures' portfolio company Think Outside on 8 November 2022. Think Outside is a technology startup developing innovative products for hydropower markets with the mission to provide a detailed, digital understanding of mountain snowpack. Based in Bergen, Norway, Think Outside provides accurate snow data – making forecasting faster, cheaper and more accurate, optimising the production of hydropower.

Solar Monkey raises €4M in growth capital to expand its organisation and increase worldwide impact. The Investment was co-lead by Finnish Helen Ventures and Eneco, who joined the journey to empower their sustainability mission together with the current investors, including 4impact capital and InnovationQuarter.

Gradyent has raised €10 million in a Series A funding round from existing investors Helen Ventures, Capricorn Partners, ENERGIIQ and new investor Eneco. Dutch climate scale-up Gradyent raises €10 million to make district heating systems more efficient and sustainable. These grids still lose a quarter of their heat yearly. This problem is becoming even more urgent with the rising fuel prices and the strong need for CO2 reduction. Gradyent has developed software that helps heating companies to optimize their heat systems and to reduce CO2, so that they can continue to supply affordable and reliable heat.

LiveEO, the leading provider of satellite analytics, announced it has secured €19M in funding in what is one of the largest investments to date in Earth Observation in Europe. The round included €17M of venture capital funding led by MMC Ventures, and further funds from the European Commission and Investitionsbank Berlin. Also, Helen Ventures participated in the round together with other investors. LiveEO is looking to accelerate market expansion for its infrastructure monitoring products, as well as enter new markets.

Energy transition startup node.energy raises 7 million euros in Series A financing. A total of four new investors are joining the company, including Helen Ventures. Existing investors such as High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and renowned business angels are once again contributing fresh capital.

One of the most significant global business forums, World Economic Forum took place in Davos, Switzerland, in the end of May bringing together over 2,000 leaders and experts from around the world. I had the pleasure to participate as part of the Finnish delegation, organized by Finnish Flow, together with my team member Kristiina Siilin. She was one of the eight changemakers aged under 35 in her own field of expertise, the Finnish Flow Program selected to represent Finland in Davos.

The leading indoor climate monitoring and optimisation solution provider, Freesi, has secured an investment from two venture capitalists, Helen Ventures and Curiosity, who invest in the most innovative and transformative European startups. This investment reflects the confidence in Freesi’s attested global growth potential. Over the past years, Freesi has achieved remarkable growth in the domestic markets, becoming a market leader in the industry, and now Freesi is on the way to rapid international scale up, accelerated by the funding and support from these two prominent venture capitalists.

How to maintain the balance between the energy needs in our everyday life and the energy production that is being shaken by variable renewable energy sources and electrification? The energy network must sustain equal amount of energy as is currently needed for living and running businesses. On the other hand, energy being produced to the network must be consumed in total or otherwise the balance is being violated. The transition from centralized energy production to distributed energy system involves all of us and requires new technologies and services as well as new models to run and optimize the system. In the midst of all this, the crucial question then is: how do we store all the electricity we need?