Valkea is Fortum’s new growth club supporting and accelerating the growth of the next generation of mission-driven startups. Over the next three years, Valkea will invest over EUR 50 million into innovative B2B and B2C digital solutions in the energy, sustainability and resource-efficiency sectors.
In addition to funding opportunities, Valkea’s startups will benefit from access to expertise and networks, industrial partnerships, pilot opportunities and co-working spaces.
Valkea’s first premises are within the largest startup hub in the Nordics. Operating out of Maria 01 in Helsinki, its starting portfolio of six companies has offices in six European countries and serves a global customer base. One of Valkea’s first portfolio companies, Recharge, is now a leading electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the Nordics.
Recently valued at €140M, Recharge is an excellent example of the scalable and mission-driven businesses that Valkea is building.
In addition to Recharge, there are currently two more electric mobility startups in Valkea’s portfolio.
The Digital Mobility Platform, comprised of Plugsurfing and Charge & Drive, makes car charging easy for EV drivers by connecting them to 195.000 charging points across Europe and by partnering with leading car manufacturers, such as Polestar, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover to provide public charging solutions. eFleetly is helping companies manage the battery lifecycle of electric fleets.
Outside of the electric mobility sector, Valkea’s startups are innovating in the areas of CO2 removal (Puro.earth), smart power consumption at home (Barry), and industrial virtual reality (eSite). Puro.earth is the world’s first voluntary carbon removal marketplace for businesses, whereas eSite has been instrumental in effective remote site management in power plants, industrial premises and the real estate sector throughout restrictions imposed as a result of COVID-19.
Working to grow these existing and future startups to the scale of Recharge and beyond, Valkea connects startups with world-class experts and partner networks to create new success stories for a cleaner future.
“Our aim is to facilitate growth by using our internal expertise as well as external networks. It’s a truly remarkable opportunity to support clean future entrepreneurs in their path to success that will benefit everyone on this planet,” describes Ilkka Lassila, Chief Operating Officer of Valkea.
Valkea builds on the learnings from Fortum’s previous innovation initiatives; its founding follows a 2018 commitment to invest €150M into socially or environmentally beneficial technology companies through the VC fund Valo Ventures. “Valkea is a great example of Fortum’s commitment to support both internal and external innovation and startups. This commitment has resulted in new services, improved operational efficiency and significant organisational learning. But most importantly, new innovations help us build a cleaner world and that is what we strive for,” emphasises Arun Aggarwal, SVP of Fortum’s Business Technology unit.
Valkea is actively collaborating with international startup communities and is looking for ambitious startups to join them in innovating towards a cleaner future, as well as investors and partners with shared interests.