Amsterdam startup Sympower raises €22 million towards European energy transition
Doubling its customer base and tripling its revenue since last year, the green tech firm has received funding for its software solution for Europe's shift towards net zero.
Sustainable tech for a European energy crisis
Perhaps never before has there been so much at stake for Europe’s energy system, amid record temperatures, threats to energy independence and a cost-of-living crisis. With 95% of increasing global power capacity set to come from renewables, there is more need than ever for tech solutions to support the transition to net zero, in Europe and beyond. That’s where Sympower comes in, an Amsterdam-based green tech startup whose software platform enables greater flexibility in transforming energy systems.
With receiving €22 million in their latest funding round, Sympower is set to become the leading independent flexibility services provider on the continent. With VC investment from five funds, the startup looks to provide a much-needed boost for Europe’s electricity grid as it transitions towards greater sustainability, independence and flexibility.
Fuelling the transition to net-zero
Since it was founded in 2015 by CEO Simon Bushell, Sympower’s innovative tech has helped balance supply and demand for electricity across international energy grids. Their proprietary software platform already provides almost 1GW of flexibility to European grids, supporting customers both commercial and industrial in demand-side loads, renewable energy production, electric vehicle charging, and battery storage facilities.
“Recent events in Europe highlight the importance of energy independence in an increasingly volatile market”, says managing partner Anup Jacob at Activate Capital, the main investor of this round. “Sympower’s elegant software solution ties distributed energy resources into complex grid operations enabling a reliable and efficient transition of Europe’s energy infrastructure. We are excited to back Simon and the team as they continue to build a pan-European offering.
A green tech pioneer on the rise
The funding round is led by Activate Capital, a leading VC and growth equity firm from Silicon Valley, and Expon Capital, joining existing funders Rubio Impact Ventures, PDENH and Rockstart.
Born from international collaborations in Imperial College London and Estonia, Sympower moved its headquarters to Amsterdam in 2017 as part of the Smart Energy Accelerator programme from Rockstart, one of several incubators in the city. Since then, it has been awarded WWF’s prestigious Climate Solver Award and expanded to Sweden, Finland, Norway and Israel, with a portfolio of more than 200 industrial and commercial customers. Last year it became B-Corp certified, doubled its customer base, expanded its employees to an international team of almost 100 and reported three times the previous year’s revenue.
“Given the current uncertainty in both the financial and energy markets, we are delighted to have secured further VC investment and we welcome aboard the experienced teams of Activate and Expon”, says Sympower CEO Simon Bushell. “The ongoing trust and support of our current investors is also invaluable as we accelerate the expansion of our services across Europe. This will help enable the transition to a clean energy system, and assist in solving short-term problems during the current EU energy crisis.”
The future for Sympower and Amsterdam’s green economy
These funds will boost Sympower’s capacity to serve a growing number of clients, in turn accelerating Europe’s transition towards net-zero and a more independent energy system. It also secures the startup’s plans to expand operations in 25 countries by 2025, becoming Europe’s leading independent flexibility services provider.
This is further good news for the thriving green tech sector in one of the world’s most sustainable cities, and follows a very healthy start to the year for funding overall, in the highest-valued startup ecosystem in Europe.
