PowerUP Energy Technologies, a company from Tallinn, has secured a €10 million Series A funding round to take the manufacturing and commercialisation of its hydrogen-powered electric generators to the next level, thereby marking one of the largest recent investments in early-stage fuel cell technology in the Baltic region. Mercaton and ScaleWolf, two dual-use venture capital firms, co-led the round, and Estonia’s SmartCap Green Fund, which is financed through the European Union’s NextGenerationEU programme, also participated in it.
The new money will enable PowerUP to increase its production capacity and develop its presence in the market across both sectors: energy for defence and energy for industry. The company, a modular hydrogen fuel cell generators manufacturer, was founded in 2016 by CEO and scientist Ivar Kruusenberg. The fuel cells are designed for the silent, emission-free power supply of the demanding nature of the environment. Soon after the launch, the military-based systems developed with the European Space Agency were used for medics and the like in Ukraine. Since then, the systems have been utilized in war zones, i.e., in the Ukrainian military operations, hence a rare instance of on-the-ground validation of large-scale performance.
“PowerUP was created on a single objective: Provide clean and reliable energy solutions. Unlike other technologies, which are still being trialed in laboratories, ours has been tested in battle,” said Kruusenberg. “Through this funding, we will be able to expand our network of distributors, resellers and partners not only in the defense but also in the commercial sector.”
This investment is a great example in a sizable and growing cluster of innovations in the hydrogen fuel cell sector that is unfolding in Estonia. Early this year, Galtec, which is also a local company operating in the same field, collected €1 million in pre-seed funding to develop micro-tubular solid-oxide fuel cells for drones and IoT applications. Whereas that round was all about research and early-technology development, PowerUP’s raise which is substantially larger is indicative of a move towards industrial scaling and regional commercial deployment.
One of the major reasons to attract the investors, the technology’s dual-use potential is the leading factor. It can serve energy needs of both the military and the civilian sector. As the geopolitical situation becomes more unstable, there is a soaring demand for energy sources that are reliable and independent of the grid. “At ScaleWolf, we focus on those technologies that not only provide security but also make the system more resilient in the most critical of places,” said Dave Harden, Partner at ScaleWolf. “PowerUP has demonstrated that its equipment can be a source of reliable energy in tough conditions, thus it can be utilized in defense as well as essential civilian operations.”
Portable generators made by PowerUP are aimed at such uses as forward operating bases, remote industrial sites, emergency operations, and provision of power to vital infrastructure when the grid fails. They are quiet and do not emit vibrations and for this reason, they may also be utilized in such places as advanced communications nodes or surveillance platforms where minimizing heat and noise signatures is mandatory.
SmartCap Managing Director Sille Pettai considers the firm a perfect example of environmentally friendly dual-use green tech that is well positioned to take advantage of major changes in the market. “PowerUP is engaged in the development and production of hydrogen fuel cell generators that can serve as main or backup power sources or as battery extenders, thus providing reliable and sustainable energy,” she said. “What is more, it has become an essential technology for modern defense and security applications whereby tech is selected on the basis of reliability and performance first and foremost and only then on climate objectives.”
The funding of €10 million will focus on three priorities: the first being the commercial sales and support teams’ expansion to go after new markets; the second one comprising a stronger international presence made possible by strategic service hubs in Central Europe and North America; and the last step being a faster R&D to come up with higher-density fuel cell models that can be applied for different power needs.
With a scale-up plan that matches industrial levels and a track record of operations to back it up, PowerUP is seemingly in a position to turn into one of the major clean-energy players of Europe, with a special concentration on systems that are not only green but also resilient and mobile. Its victory also sheds light on the Baltic vicinity becoming a hub that is getting more and more influential in terms of next-generation fuel-cell innovation.