EOLOS Floating Lidar Solutions, a start-up supported by EIT InnoEnergy, has completed a significant capital injection by the entity of the Swiss investment company Prorsum AG.
Rajai Aghabi, CEO and founder of EOLOS, describes the capital increase as “a significant closing for EOLOS, allowing the present team the flexibility and capability to both grow and expand globally in the market of turn-key offshore wind data measurement campaigns, not only by strengthening our financial position, but also through the extensive network within the energy sector that Prorsum can provide”.
The funding provides a step increase in solidity both towards clients and the entire supply chain. Aghabi comments: "The rapid growth of the wind industry markets in Europe, North America and Asia is a great growth opportunity for EOLOS. The capital increase will allow EOLOS to better serve their clients with a trend towards multi buoy projects and to expand their global footprint".
EIT InnoEnergy, the innovation engine for sustainable energy across Europe, provided start-up funding for EOLOS in 2014 and continues to support the company.
Diego Pavia, CEO EIT InnoEnergy, acknowledged that "the growth and development of EOLOS have been a reference case within our renewable energy portfolio, confirming the effectiveness of our participation in the company and our nurturing of the team during their early years. I am very proud of the EOLOS team to have achieved this step, consistent with the projections they set and committed themselves to."
In summer 2017 EOLOS relocated to larger, dedicated facilities just outside of Barcelona, and now incorporates 17 full-time employees, with senior management members coming from the offshore wind industry including General Electric, Alstom and Ecofys.
EOLOS has secured over the past months' new projects in USA, Ireland and South Korea, with track-record achieved with developers such as NYSERDA, EDPR and Iberdrola. Continued investment is expected following the trends of the offshore wind industry, with the longer-term market tending towards floating offshore wind with deep water sites, making an even stronger case of site-specific floating LiDAR campaigns.