Investment in exciting new Swedish energy startup, Blixt
BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures Inc., the venture capital unit of BayWa r.e., has confirmed the Swedish energy startup, Blixt, will be its first investment.
Blixt is the first and only company to offer solid state miniature circuit breakers to enable numerous smart metering and smart grid solutions. As lead investor of Blixt’s seed round, BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures provides the startup with access to the global infrastructure of the BayWa r.e. group. Together with the angel round earlier this year, the investment brings the total raised to just over €2 million since Blixt was founded in February 2018.
“With their highly innovative product and its potential to play a vital role in the digitised energy market of the future, Blixt is an ideal fit for us and our investment goals. The startup's cutting-edge digital circuit breaker is a radical novelty in the market and opens up a world of possibilites. For utilities it provides the basis for smart metering and grid management, such as demand-responsive pricing and adjustable tariffs.”, states Ulrich Seitz, Managing Director of BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures. “BayWa r.e.’s strong network, will support and significantly accelerate Blixt’s growth in its target areas and help to drive the energy transition in Europe.”
Based in Stockholm, Blixt has developed a digital circuit breaker. Its lack of mechanical parts makes it possible to cut a circuit within only 250 nanoseconds. Moreover, its micro-controller and communication interface turns the old fuse box into an intelligent energy management centre. The Blixt breaker can be retrofitted for regular fuse boxes and fill the needs of existing breakers, remote controls and smart meters in one single device. Moreover, software applications built on top of the Blixt breaker can be distributed remotely, letting new services be added as they are developed. On October 8, Blixt opened for signups of its development kits, letting the global developer's community explore the potential of digital circuit breakers.
Charlotta Holmquist, Chairman and founder of Blixt is excited about the new partnership: “With its profound knowledge and extensive network in the field of energy services, BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures is the perfect investor for us. Equally important, they also understand the culture and mind-set of innovative startups and provide the flexibility needed to rethink and disrupt. I really look forward to working with Ulrich Seitz who will represent BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures on our Board. Thanks to the investment, we will be able to further improve the technology and bring our business a major step towards empowering the electrical evolution. We start out with the $30 bn circuit breaker market and are looking forward to many more to come.”
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