A Finnish-born startup, Cactos has just raised €2.5 million in new funding to put an end to harmful energy habits. The GreenTech startup creates a circular, more effective energy system for Europe by converting used electric vehicle batteries into smart energy storage devices.
With the founders of Cactos involved, Superhero Capital led the €2.5 million equity and debt raise. The money will be used to support expansion, boost output, and go global.
Startups are leading the charge in developing solutions for these difficult times, and they are still expanding, both intellectually and financially. The Finnish start-up Cactos has now received more funding for its innovative approach to energy storage that makes use of used electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Cactos’ CEO and creator, Oskari Jaakkola, said: “Our first year of operation is drawing to an end. One of the most cutting-edge energy storage systems in the world was released to the market in the first semester. The market’s demand for our product has been incredibly high since the roll-out, and the money we raised will enable us to properly meet this need.”
Oskari continued, “Superhero Capital is a shareholder of Cactos, and we are pleased to welcome them. Our collaboration has gone well so far, and it’s clear that the Superhero team understands the energy markets as well as we do. A sustainable transition to renewable energy calls for readily available smart energy storage solutions.”
Cactos, which was newly established last year, aims to fulfill the rising demand for cutting-edge responses to Europe’s developing energy crisis. Based on intelligent energy storage devices and a cloud computing service, the Finnish firm offers a full-service fleet of distributed energy storage systems.
One of the market’s greenest energy storage units, Cactos’ energy storage units are constructed using used Tesla EV batteries. Additionally, they support a fully circular economy and offer an end-of-life solution for the electrification of transportation.
At the Cactos facility in Muhos, Finland, a team of Cactos experts disassembles, inspects, and tests the EV battery modules before turning them into 100kWh energy storage units.
The fleet of energy storage units is managed and optimized via the cloud computing service Cactos Spine, which is algorithm-based. Through usage peaks or blackouts, this provides a constant energy supply and optimization that maximizes the advantages of decreased electricity prices.
The transmission system is also stabilized by the energy storage units by balancing supply and demand. The units automatically discharge energy into the grid in times of electricity shortages, and they absorb energy in times of excess production.
The company aims to assist businesses with the green transition by providing its service to a variety of clients while also adapting to their changing needs and demands.
For instance, the rise in electric vehicle usage has posed new problems for both the networks that distribute electricity and the potential locations for charging stations. Due to the huge energy consumption peaks brought on by fast charging, charging stations may need to restrict the amount of power they can supply.
By reducing the peaks and enabling temporary loads larger than the connection size would otherwise permit, Cactos aims to address this.
“On the ground, businesses are anxious about the availability of electricity and market instability. There is no doubt that the upcoming winter will be extremely challenging, but the longer-term prognosis with the energy transition and the temporal mismatch in supply and demand indicates that there is a critical need for demand response and various forms of energy storage,” says Oskari Jaakkola.
Oskari further added, “Our goal was to develop an energy storage system that is hassle-free for the customer and simple to use to serve the broad market. The Cactos One functions autonomously and requires no initial investment, thus I believe we were successful.”
After barely a year of operation, the startup is already delivering savings and benefits to customers throughout Finland. The company will more than double the size of its facility in early 2023, allowing for a nearly 10-fold increase in unit production, with its existing production functioning at maximum capacity.
In addition to this, the Helsinki City Housing Company (Heka Oy), Finland’s largest residential property owner with more than 50,000 apartments, and Oomi, one of the country’s largest electricity retailers, have important partnerships with organizations in Finland.
The funding will support the company’s expansion, which includes raising the production of energy storage units, enlarging the facility where they are made, and undertaking projects abroad.
As the world moves toward a cleaner future, smart energy storage technologies are urgently needed, according to Jussi Pyörre, Partner at Superhero Capital. Businesses may economically support this shift with the innovative business model and technologies Cactos has provided. To create something amazing, we at Superhero Capital are committed to collaborating with entrepreneurs and companies who share our vision. Their technology, expertise, and dedication to making this happen to impress us.
Image Credit: Cactos