Floating Wind Startup Aikido Technologies Raises $4M in Seed Financing
June 20 2024 - 11:28AM
Business Wire
Aikido Technologies, a floating wind startup whose technology
lowers costs, reduces fabrication timelines and brings serial
production to the floating wind sector, today announced the
successful close of its over-subscribed $4 million Series Seed
investment round. The financing was led by Azolla Ventures with
participation from Propeller Ventures, Sabanci Climate Ventures,
Cisco Foundation, Anthropocene Ventures, and others. Aikido will
use this capital to advance its technology for offshore deployment,
build its team, and develop a commercial pipeline. The company is
currently supported by Breakthrough Energy Fellows, which is
funding Aikido’s first pilot deployment, the Aikido One.
The core of Aikido’s technology is a platform for floating
offshore wind turbines that slashes project costs and enables
floating offshore wind projects to become economic. Key features of
the platform include a) pin joints that enable serialized
production of its 13 major steel components; b) a unique design
that allows it to fold up during assembly, occupying 2/3 less space
in a shipyard or quayside port facility; c) a fit-for-purpose,
re-usable assembly structure that enables the quick placement,
alignment, final assembly, and transport; and d) an upending
procedure that only requires water ballast.
“Bringing strong financial investors to the table represents a
huge milestone for Aikido and for the floating wind industry writ
large,” stated CEO Sam Kanner. “Floating wind must become
commercialized by the end of the decade so that we can meet
decarbonization targets set by pioneering offshore wind countries,
including the U.S., U.K., and others in Europe and Asia. We believe
that our technology suite represents a step change in reducing
costs, simplifying logistics and increasing throughput of floating
wind systems.”
“The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is proud to have been
involved with the Aikido team since 2022, when we granted their
concept an Approval-In-Principle,” said Rob Langford, ABS Vice
President, Global Offshore Wind. “I welcome the announcement of
this financing as a great signal for Aikido and the strength of the
floating wind industry. I look forward to following the Aikido One
project and their progress in the coming years.”
Matthew Nordan, General Partner at Azolla Ventures, said, “We
are delighted to lead Aikido’s first equity financing. The world
does not reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions without taking
advantage of the extraordinary resource in offshore wind, but the
high costs of incumbent technologies have limited deployments to
date. We are optimistic that Aikido stands out amongst a multitude
of competing concepts in its ability to dramatically reduce costs
and speed up installation.”
The company is currently building its inaugural Aikido One
platform with its fabrication partner Morrison Energy in Harvey,
Louisiana. Once completed, the company plans to demonstrate its
technology in the Gulf Coast in Fall 2024. The demonstration will
show plainly the key differentiators of Aikido’s platform
technology: fast and compact final assembly, simple transportation
and float-off, and a safe and robust upending procedure.
Reece Pacheco, Partner at Propeller adds, “We are very excited
about the opportunity for Aikido. The Aikido team is excellent, the
market is huge, and their timing is critical — unlocking the
tremendous renewable energy potential of floating offshore wind.
Aikido’s technology solves the most critical challenge facing the
industry, how to build these massive structures in a
cost-effective, time-constrained and space-efficient manner.”
ABOUT Aikido
Technologies
Aikido Technologies is a technology provider for the floating
wind industry, developing innovative solutions to drive down the
cost and enable the serial production of floating wind systems. For
more information, visit: www.aikidotechnologies.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240620853924/en/
Sam Kanner sam.kanner@aikidotechnologies.com