Statkraft Ventures teams up with ETF Partners and leads $5M Series A in Greenbird from Norway
Ubiquitous smart meters are a key infrastructure component for the smart green utilities of the future because they generate a lot of valuable data and enable new energy services and dynamic pricing. In fact, it is a surprise that smart meter rollouts happen rather slowly in most countries due to slow regulators and hesitant utilities that are not yet ready to make substantial upfront investments in millions of smart meters that may bring more economic benefits to consumers than to the utilities themselves. Luckily, the Nordic countries and their resident startups have a headstart. Today, Düsseldorf-based corporate VC Statkraft Ventures leads the $5M Series A in Greenbird teaming up with London-based ETF Partners who were on the top of their potential co-investor list. The Norwegian energy IoT startup is Statkraft’s second investment this year after DEPsys from Switzerland in June.
Read moreRune Wendelbo pitches Graphene Batteries from Norway
Ecosummit TV: Graphene is a very promising material that won the Nobel prize in 2010. CTO Rune Wendelbo pitches Graphene Batteries from Norway at ECO13 London. The Oslo-based startup targets the market for batteries in transportation that is forecasted to be $21B in 2020 and develops the active material on the cathode, a key component that represents 25% of the value of the battery. Rune and his team claim that their Graphene-LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) composite for the cathode promises increased energy density, lifetime, safety as well as non-toxic production. On a lab scale Graphene Batteries achieved proof of concept but they still need to demonstrate that their manufacturing process is scalable. To establish the pilot production Rune wants to raise $2.2M and thinks that an exit to a chemical corporate with a strong position in the battery business could happen within 3 years.
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