London’s Octopus Energy gets backing from two new investors; valuation surges by 15% since Dec ’23 funding round 

London-based Octopus Energy, a clean energy tech company, announced on Wednesday the onboarding of two new investors: Galvanize Climate Solutions and Lightrock. However, the exact figures were not disclosed.

The announcement comes a few weeks after the company secured investments from existing shareholders Generation Investment Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments).

Both deals value Octopus Energy at $9B (approximately €8.2B), a 15 per cent increase from its last big funding round in December 2023.

Greg Jackson, Founder of Octopus Energy Group, says, “I’m thrilled to welcome Galvanize and Lightrock – backed by some of the world’s most successful investors with incredible track records.”

“Their climate-focused investment is a powerful catalyst for our global expansion and will allow us to keep up the momentum to further drive our growth across North America, Europe, and into emerging markets,” he continues.

“We share a mission to accelerate the clean energy transition through smarter, more sustainable systems worldwide. With their support, we’ll increase our global impact, ramp up innovation, and scale our vision for reshaping the energy landscape globally,” he adds.

Octopus Energy Group

Launched in 2016 by Greg Jackson, James Eddison and Stuart Jackson, Octopus Energy Group (OEG) aims to use technology to make the green energy revolution affordable and in the process, transform customer experiences.

The company has licensed its advanced data and machine learning platform — Kraken, to support over 54 million customer accounts worldwide through licensing deals with companies such as EDF, E.ON, and Origin Energy.

Kraken enables Octopus Energy to drive the electrification of heat and transport through smart tariffs and innovative cleantech.

Octopus Energy has recently signed a multi-year contract with Canadian Saint John Energy to license Kraken’s demand flexibility solution and end-to-end customer service platform.

The market-leading platform also greatly reduces costs for suppliers and improves customer service levels. It is now contracted to serve over 54 million energy accounts across the world and manage over 38 GW across 180,000 green energy assets in 12 countries.

Currently, under its retail brand, the company delivers its energy products to 7.8 million households globally. Its operations span 18 countries and the entire energy value chain. 

The investors

Galvanize is a climate-focused investment firm headquartered in San Francisco, aiming to deliver capital and expertise to accelerate climate solutions around the world.

The firm is chaired by Katie Hall and Tom Steyer with assets worth over $36B each.

Veery Maxwell, Co-Head of Innovation + Expansion at Galvanize, says, “To decarbonise, increased system optimisation and flexibility services for the power sector are critical, particularly as the industry grapples with escalating load growth and distributed generation.”

“We believe Octopus’ capabilities are distinctly suited to support power market participants across the energy value chain and are looking forward to working with its leadership to accelerate growth across North America and beyond,” adds Maxwell.

Lightrock is a global investment platform dedicated to building a sustainable future.

The company manages capital across both public and private markets, a significant portion of which is dedicated to climate innovation.

With strong stakeholder relationships in Europe and a longstanding on-ground presence in Asia and Latin America, Lightrock will support Octopus in both its European and global growth.

Nigel McCleave, Partner at Lightrock, says, “It is remarkable that in less than a decade since founding, Octopus has become the UK’s largest provider of home electricity – a testament to its fair treatment of customers, pioneering technology, and transformation of the consumer energy experience.”

“However, this feels like just the beginning; Octopus has the potential to transform so much more of the energy value chain for the better,” continues McCleave.

“The energy transition will require companies like Octopus to continue their trajectory of success, and we are excited to partner with a European leader that is not only succeeding, but which is already establishing itself as a truly meaningful company on the global stage,” McCleave concludes.