Octopus enjoys $550m investment boost as energy giant looks to ramp up renewable plans
Octopus Energy Group (Octopus) has closed its latest funding round, securing $550m from both existing shareholders and a North American pension group.
This includes $325m from shareholders and $225m from Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investment Board.
The energy giant plans to use the money to improve its energy technology platform, Kraken, which has been licensed to major rivals including E.ON and EDF in the UK.
It also wants to invest in solutions that can help drive renewables at scale.
Octopus manages 3GW of energy projects, making it one of the largest renewables investors in Europe,/
Greg Jackson, chief executive and founder of Octopus Energy Group, said: “We are in grasping distance of a clean, cheap, secure energy system – but it needs continued boldness from innovators like Octopus, and the backing of visionary investors like CPP Investments, Generation, Origin and Tokyo Gas.”
Bruce Hogg, managing director and head of sustainable energies at CPP Investments, said: “As global investors, we seek to work with leading tech-enabled energy companies and in the evolution to a low carbon world. Investing in the energy transition is important to access untapped potential, and provide opportunities for delivering attractive long-term, risk-adjusted returns and to CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”
Last year, Octopus secured up to $600m from Generation Investment Management – a fund set up and backed by former US Vice-President Al Gore.