The Dutch climate tech firm will use the money to speed up the development of a machine-learning tool for short-term power trading aimed at boosting the energy transition.
Amsterdam-based Dexter Energy has raised €23m in a funding round led by Klima, an energy transition fund backed by Spanish investment bank Alantra. Other investors involved in the funding round include Paris-based Mirova and existing investors including ETF Partners, Newion and PDENH.
While 70% of all electricity is expected to be generated by renewables in Europe by 2030, according to the European Commission, compared with 47% last year, green energy producers are facing a number of obstacles, according to Dexter. These include a rapidly changing market with volatile prices, adverse weather conditions causing strong price swings and dwindling traditional subsidies.
Dexter’s AI-driven trading platform helps energy companies trade on the increasingly volatile European electricity markets by balancing the electricity grid, slashing balancing costs and optimising the use of solar, wind, and battery storage, the company said.
Dexter is a good example of the kind of energy tech firm Klima wants to invest in because there aren’t many AI-driven software operators in the renewables sector, Iñigo Echaniz, a partner at Klima, told Impact Investor.
“Energy markets are very, very complex. There are many things at play, like weather forecast, energy resources availability, energy prices and grid constraints. If you are able to take all this data and combine it with AI knowledge, then you can drive a lot of value for renewable assets,” Echaniz said.
Echaniz went on to say he is expecting AI to play a key role in the renewable energy sector and that Dexter is “one of the pioneers in this space”.
Klima fund
Founded in 2017, Dexter currently works with more than 80 energy companies, including Centrica Energy in the UK, Pure Energie in the Netherlands and Luminus in Belgium. It plans to use the funding to expand its battery trading solutions for wind and solar across Europe. It also plans to grow its solutions for battery trading optimisation, initially in the Netherlands and then across key European markets.
“We’re excited to welcome Klima aboard. They share our belief that AI is now essential infrastructure for an electricity grid powered by renewables and storage. This investment enables us to scale our technology and redefine how clean energy is traded across Europe,” said Luuk Veeken, CEO and founder of Dexter Energy.
Klima, a €210m late-stage venture capital fund, mainly focuses on technology-driven companies capable of speeding up the transition to net zero in Europe and the US. It is backed by Alantra and Spanish energy infrastructure company Enagás, and also supported by institutional investors including the European Investment Fund and the Canadian Pension Fund.
The commitment to Dexter is the ninth investment for Klima, which is building a portfolio of twelve portfolio companies, according to Echaniz. The fund typically invests between €8m to €12m in each company, with an investment period of five years, Echaniz said.
Mirova
“We invest in innovative and fast-scaling companies which contribute to solving environmental issues and Dexter totally fits this mandate,” Anne Boulet, investment director at Mirova, told Impact Investor on a joint video call with Echaniz.
Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, is a global asset management company dedicated to sustainable investing with €32bn in assets under management as of the end of March. It typically invests between €5m and €20m in each portfolio company, with an investment period of around five years, according to Boulet.
As reported by Impact Investor, Mirova said in September it had raised more than €200m for its first impact private equity fund, which is focused on clean energy, the circular economy, natural resources, agritech and smart cities.
The investment in Dexter also creates synergies with Mirova’s existing infrastructure portfolio, which has financed more than 7 gigawatt of renewable assets in Europe, according to Boulet.
“Working hand in hand with our energy infrastructure team allows us to have an insider’s perspective of the market dynamics and pain points that renewable energy players are suffering from. It’s useful to us as investors, but more importantly we hope we can bring this valuable insight to Dexter’s team” Boulet said.
