Cactos, a Helsinki-based battery energy storage systems (BESS) startup has raised over €26 million in equity capital as part of a larger €70 million investment project.
Led by OP Finland Infrastructure LP and the Finnish Climate Fund, technically speaking, Cactos hasn’t raised anything at all, but rather, its EU Taxonomy Regulation (SFDR) Article 8 investment company, Cactos Fleet Finland LP has garnered the capital.
Announced just four months ago, Cactos Fleet Finland LP is the startup’s dedicated, pure-play battery energy storage investment fund, and is aiming to raise €70 million, with a 50/50 split of equity and debt funding. The €70 million will be invested in smart energy storage units over approximately two and a half years and with an expected operational period of approximately ten years.
Cactos founder and CEO Oskari Jaakkola explains:
“We established Cactos Fleet Finland LP because the energy transition requires significant investment in infrastructure, especially in assets capable of participating in demand response and grid services.
“Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are an excellent way to create more flexibility in consumption, as well as balance the grid as a whole.”
Perhaps best known for its innovative reconditioning and use of spent Tesla EV batteries as source material for the company’s first market offer, Cactos now also offers fresh lithium iron phosphate batteries as part of its lineup.
However, it would appear as though the company’s software solution is playing an increasingly important role in the development of the company.
Dubbed Cactos Spine, the platform is able to create an optimized matrix of battery units that offer clients including logistics company Logitri Oy, protection against electricity price volatility, level out local demand peaks, offer backup power, and where applicable, optimise the use of the property’s own electricity production.
“Large housing, real estate, and logistics companies need solutions to tackle, for example, large energy consumption peaks caused by simultaneous charging of multiple electric vehicles and to protect themselves from electricity market volatility. An energy storage unit together with our cloud computing service, Cactos Spine, automatically optimises these functions,” Jaakkola explained.
In December 2023 Cactos Fleet Finland LP reported owning 50 Cactos units, while the planned €70 million fund will see that number jump to over 1,000 units in the coming years if all goes according to plan.
The creation of a fund atop/beside/within a startup is certainly something we don’t see every day, when operating in industries as heavy as those that Cactos is looking to serve, tremendous amounts of capital are required. I.e., the fund is more than just a vehicle to purchase its own products.
In an email interview, Cactos CEO Oskari Jaakkola clarified:
“Cactos Fleet Finland has thus far invested only in Cactos' own energy storage systems, its investment mandate also includes third-party systems. Thus, it is possible to invest also in other BESS' than Cactos’.”
Lead image via Cactos.
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