28 June 2021

Einride plans to invest SEK 4 billion in Sweden

Robert Falck founded Einride together with Linnéa Kornehed and Filip Lilja in 2016. Since then, the company has developed an electric truck that lacks a driver's seat and is monitored and controlled remotely. In May, Einride completed its largest capital round to date with the equivalent of SEK 930 million in new capital, attracting investment from Singapore's wealth fund Temasek, a George Soros' company, venture capitalists Northzone and the Danish shipping giant Maersk's investment company

Einride has now announced a new program of investment of approximately SEK 4 billion in Sweden over the next 2-3 years. The plan is to build what the company calls a transport network in four Swedish regions, linking customers, carriers, terminals and regions, with Einride responsible for optimising the transport with a fleet of electrified trucks. “Specifically, it is about putting our self-developed electric trucks into service. At the same time, between 200-300 special and extra powerful charging stations will be built to be able to efficiently supply the trucks with electricity,” said Falck. “In the next 18 months, we will roll out about 300 trucks to about ten customers. We do it initially in the country's three large cities and the industrial hub on Lake Vättern, with customers such as Oatly, Lidl, SKF and Electrolux. In the next 18 months, the goal is to increase to 1,000 trucks at around 20 customers and to reach at least SEK 1 billion in sales.” 

Commenting on the challenges and threats Falck said, “One of the absolute biggest is the lack of Swedish electricity supply. Insufficient electricity network capacity and high area prices for electricity in southern Sweden is a major threat to the entire electrification of the transport sector and something that politicians must solve quickly.” The absence of legislation and regulations that allow for self-driving vehicles is another serious obstacle to the company's long-term plan for fully autonomous vehicles. (Dagens Industri)

Azelio begins collaboration with US-based MMR Constructors

Azelio and MMR Constructors have signed a letter of intent with the aim of developing projects that combine Azelio's energy storage, TES.POD, with solar cells, providing customers with renewable energy around the clock. The collaboration aims for an installed capacity of 250 MWh of Azelio's TES.POD by the year 2027, with an initial project on a smaller scale in 2022. (Nordiska Projekt)

Vestas invests into Modvion

Vestas’s venture capital arm, Vestas Ventures is making another investment in Sweden’s Modvion through a private placement. Modvion builds wind power towers in laminated wood, which is stronger than steel at the same weight. The towers are built in modules that can be transported on public roads, which also makes it easier to build taller towers at a lower cost. Vestas has expressed its interest in using Modvion's technology in its products in order to offer its customers even more sustainable energy solutions. The intention with the latest investment is to bring Modvion's wooden towers to market more quickly and scale up the production rate. (Bransch Aktuellt)

Polarium and Northvolt enter into telecoms partnership

Polarium and Northvolt have entered into a long-term partnership where Northvolt will supply Polarium with lithium-ion battery cells, making Polarium is the first company in the world to offer energy storage for telecommunications networks, built on Northvolt's green battery cells.

Polarium provides battery solutions for the telecommunications industry's reserve power. Traditionally,  operators are faced with a choice between conventional lead-acid batteries, which need to be replaced frequently, and diesel, which is both costly and environmentally unsustainable. Since 2015, Polarium has offered a lithium-ion alternative. Polarium has announced that its next step will be a new product range called "Green", which consists of even greener energy storage solutions, in collaboration with Northvolt. (Dagens Industri)

AxSol invests in Epishine

Epishine was founded in 2016, supported by 30 years of research. The company, which is based in Linköping, has over the past year developed its thin, flexible organic solar cells for indoor use with application in products for the real estate sector, in product categories such as wireless sensors, electronic locks and smoke alarms. The demand for power supplies for wirelessly connected IoT devices is expected to grow strongly in the coming years, creating growth opportunities for Epishine's technology with application capabilities across a wide range of low-energy indoor product categories - from the initial products' focus on prop-tech, to in-store product and price signage.

Axel Johnson's solar investment company, AxSol has made four investments in Nordic solar energy companies over the past two years. AxSol is now leading the financing round of Epishine, aiming to raise around SEK 80 million. (IT Finans)

What we’re reading

• ‘Mind-boggling’ heatwave breaks records in western US (Financial Times, paywall)
• Airline Industry to Weigh Goal of Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 (Bloomberg, paywall)

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