Equinor Ventures, oil firm Equinor's corporate venture arm dedicated to investing in ambitious early phase and growth companies, has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with f3nice, an Italian additive manufacturing company.
F3nice’s technology will source metal scrap and disused parts and convert this into metal powder, which can be used as input material for printing of new parts. Equinor will support a project to test and validate F3nice’s technology and business model
This is one of the results of this year’s Equinor and Techstars Energy Accelerator.
Equinor Ventures has awarded two Accelerator Prizes to Cnergreen and Ocean Access. Cnergreen is commercializing a nanoparticle-based foam technology enabling cleaner hydrocarbon production.
Ocean Access is developing a more reliable and cost-effective solution for accessing and gathering information from remote locations offshore.
The companies will receive USD 50.000 each.
"This year, the Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator has been entirely virtual. During the past 13 weeks, nine start-ups from all around the world have tapped into the global network of Techstars, Capgemini, Kongsberg, and Equinor," Equinor said.
According to Equinor, over 150 mentors have participated, assisting the start-ups mature and grow, and the program has represented a unique possibility to search for the best ideas within the energy sector.
“I am very energised by how the nine companies have created broad engagement across Equinor. While we have been able to help them improve their product and technologies - they have also challenged us. Through their innovative ideas and disruptive technologies, these companies will help us to deliver on our mandate; to optimise oil and gas, accelerating profitable renewables and develop low carbon solutions” says, Philip Hansteen, leader of Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator at Equinor Ventures.
“At the end of the program, I am proud of what they have achieved and how far they have come. We are privileged to work very closely with our corporate partners to really understand how to engage an energy giant and I know this insight is extremely appreciated by our founders,’’ says Audun Abelsnes, managing director Techstars Energy.
“It has been incredibly exciting to explore the innovative and potentially disruptive ideas in the energy sector, together with Equinor, Kongsberg and Techstars. All the nine start-ups and the partners have both challenged and impressed us. And this is exactly where we as a company want to be - in a strong ecosystem of industry experience and expertise, where we can contribute with our management, technology and innovation capabilities – all for a more sustainable future” says Elin Skauge, vice president and head of Innovation & Strategy at Capgemini Invent Norway.
“Supporting and collaborating with these nine companies and helping them reach their goals has been a pleasure for us. These companies have shown in the program that hard work, dedication, innovation, and collaboration is what it takes to be a success. Kongsberg is a technology company that is at the forefront of digitalization and working with these nine start-ups helps us stay on our toes in our quest for continuous improvements and new ways of working” says Mikkel Hannisdahl Haug, customer success manager at Kongsberg Digital.