Espoo, Finland-based Infrakit, a digital platform to increase infrastructure construction productivity, announced on Wednesday, February 8, that it has received €6M capital loan (with convertible option) from The Finnish Climate Fund, a Finland-based state-owned special-assignment company.
Infrakit says the capital will accelerate the development of sustainability functionalities in its data management service and its software’s international deployment.
“The interest on the Climate Fund’s capital loan is priced at the market rate and the capital loan also includes a conversion right,” reads the press release.
According to Infrakit, the total investments in its growth and development plan in the next few years are estimated at €12.6M.
The total capital comprises of
- The Climate Fund’s capital loan
- €5M in equity funding from one of the company’s current shareholders
- Grants from Business Finland and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport, and the Environment
In Finland, infrastructure building, which includes the construction of transportation routes, logistics centres, energy infrastructure, and industrial structures, emits 1.4 Mt CO2eq, with the fuel consumption of machinery and vehicles accounting for roughly 55 per cent of the total.
Infrakit: Helping digitalise infra projects
Founded in 2010 by Teemu Kivimäki, Infrakit offers data management services for infrastructure projects, particularly for reducing the duration and costs of construction.
Kivimäki says, ”Until now, we have been able to promise our customers savings of approximately 20 per cent in overall infrastructure building costs by improving the efficiency of operations with our service.”
The Finnish company’s data-based management features offer tools for determining the carbon footprint, monitoring actual emissions, and optimising emissions during a project’s implementation.
“Many projects have also been completed ahead of schedule, like the €70M project on Highway 3. Now we want to bring the same benefits to sustainability,” adds Kivimäki.
The project’s estimated emissions reduction potential depends on “the improvement in infrastructure building efficiency achieved by the data model platform provided by the company,” says Infrakit.
Infrakit claims that the magnitude of the emissions reductions achieved in a single infrastructure building project is approximately 0.6 kt CO2eq.
The company also adds that its ten-year cumulative emissions-reduction potential is approximately 3 Mt CO2eq if everything goes according to the plan.
Infrakit targets markets in Finland and abroad, but believes that most of its growth will be achieved abroad.
The Finnish Climate Fund: Combating climate change
The Finnish Climate Fund focuses on combating climate change, boosting the low-carbon industry, and promoting digitalisation.
The Climate Fund invests in large-scale projects in which the fund’s investment is crucial to enable the project’s realisation in the first place, on a larger scale or earlier than it would with funding from elsewhere.
CEO Paula Laine of the Climate Fund says, ”Infrakit’s comprehensive data management service is one way of boosting the sustainability perspective in the construction sector. For example, cities and municipalities could use the service to set requirements and goals for builders regarding their emissions.”
She adds, “Our investment accelerates the growth of an emissions-reducing solution and enables the development of new sustainability functionalities.”
01
From port to startup fort: How Lars Crama is ‘Making it Happen’ in Rotterdam