Candela secures €24M investment from EQT Ventures
Candela, a Swedish electric boatbuilder, received $27 million in a new round of funding led by EQT Ventures and existing investor Chris Anderson, the Curator of TED talks. The company plans to use the investor money to increase research and design, and to scale up boat production of its hydro-foiling electric boats.
Swedish electric boatbuilder Candela announced it has raised $27 million (€24M) in a new round of financing to ramp up research and design, invest in production automation, and scale up production of its hydro-foiling electric boats.
The investment was led by EQT Ventures, with participation from existing investor Chris Anderson, the Curator of TED. The new capital will be used to triple R&D, invest in production automation and scale up the sales organization to meet demand for Candela’s electric leisure and commercial vessels.
High Energy, Low Range
The shift to zero emission boats and ships has been hampered by the enormous energy consumption and correspondingly low range of conventional electric boats. Flying on computer-guided underwater wings — known as hydrofoils — that reduce energy consumption by 80 percent compared to conventional planing craft, the company said. Candela says its boats have two to three times longer endurance than the best conventional electric powerboats.
The active hydrofoil system stabilizes the vessels in-flight using computer power and advanced software that accounts for waves and side winds, allowing for a wake-free and smoother ride than conventional boats.
Industry Disruptor
Candela’s high-tech hydrofoil vessels brought to the market a combination of long all-electric range and high speed.
Since 2019, Candela led electric boat sales in Europe with the foiling C-7 sportsboat. Candela is building on this success with the mass market Candela C-8, a day cruiser that the company has reportedly close to 100 orders for, just three months after launch.
The new investment will be used to triple company’s fast-growing R&D team that consists of engineers from the aerospace, software, and electronics industries. Funds will be used for the Stockholm facility to increase automation at its factory. The plant will produce the Candela C-8 alongside the commercial vessels launched earlier this year: the shuttle ferry Candela P-30 and the water taxi Candela P-12.
Commercial Vessels
By scaling its mature and market-proven hydrofoil tech to commercial vessels, Candela envisions to have a big impact on the sizable CO2 emissions caused by fast coastal shipping worldwide. Marine transports are responsible for 4 to 5 percent of the world’s annual CO2 emissions. By combining sustainability with lower operational costs, we foresee that our electric passenger vessels will drive the transition away from ICE ships even faster than for leisure boats.
The Candela P-30 ferry – the world’s first electric hydrofoil passenger vessel – has been commissioned by the region of Stockholm, where it is set to commence traffic in 2023. It will shuttle passengers to and from the city’s vast archipelago. According to the region’s calculations, Candela P-30’s energy-saving hydrofoil system should reduce operational costs by 42 percent compared to current diesel vessels, as well as allow for faster travel and more frequent departures.
CEO Sees ‘Boundless Demand’
Gustav Hasselskog, CEO of Candela, said the latest investment in the Swedish electric boat builder double down on its mission to speed up the transition to fossil fuel-free lakes and oceans. The additional investment will allow the company to scale up faster.
“We’ve shown that our hydrofoil tech is the key to make electric boats commercially viable. We’re seeing boundless demand for the Candela C-8, as well as huge interest in our commercial vessels,” Hasselskog said.
Added Lars Jörnow, partner at EQT Ventures, “Candela is the world’s leading company for cutting-edge technology that makes leisure and passenger crafts fossil-free. The transition to clean passenger transportation has been very fast on land. Now, with Candela’s technology, it will happen also on water. We want to support Candela to further strengthen its role as the technology leader while scaling up the production fast, so that the positive environmental impact of Candela can become global.”
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