Lead investor Korys as well as Noshaq, Creos and Gesval are all participating in this new round of financing for the Liège-based company.
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Ten years after the company was founded, Ampacimon is starting a new chapter in its history with a capital increase of 4 million euros with Korys as lead investor, despite the very special times we are experiencing. Existing shareholders Gesval and Creos are also taking part in this financing round with a view to strengthening their historical link with Ampacimon. This transaction also marks the return of Noshaq who have been involved at the beginning of Ampacimon. Elia focuses on start-ups and has decided to leave as an investor but remains a very important customer of Ampacimon.
Established in 2010, following research carried out since 2003 at the University of Liège, Ampacimon products monitor the ampacity of high-voltage lines in real time by equipping the lines with autonomous and connected sensors. The company’s state-of-the-art software applications then enable customers worldwide to monitor in real time, as well as in forecast, the use of their electricity networks and to optimise them.
“This will enable the team to offer innovative technological solutions to meet the network monitoring needs of our customers.”
Since 2015, after the previous capital increase, the company has been promoting its “Dynamic Line Rating” (DLR) solutions to increase its notoriety in more countries and with new operators. Ampacimon has been awarded contracts with most of the major utility companies worldwide, Tennet (Netherlands) in Europe, HydroQuebec, APS and NYPA in North America, MSETCL in India, and ENEL and ISA in South America, joining Elia (Belgium) and RTE (France) as first customers. As such, Ampacimon has the largest installed base of DLR systems in the world.
Five years later, this new capital increase will enable Ampacimon to further accelerate its growth through innovative projects to develop new monitoring solutions, in particular for distribution networks. To do this, Ampacimon continues to invest in numerous research projects in order to diversify its applications. Next to that, the company is also analysing acquisition opportunities.
“Ampacimon fits perfectly in the investment strategy of Korys and we are impressed by their growth”, says Brieuc de Hults, Investment Director at Korys. “Besides our investments in renewable energies, we also want to support their integration in the energy network and as such participate in the energy transition. Renewable energy sources produce electricity intermittently and this means networks need to be more and more flexible and monitored in real time. The capacity of grids will also need to be increased, which will require significant investments. However, grids are often under-utilised for safety reasons. Ampacimon is able to increase their capacity (grid utilisation) without major investments yet just by gathering more accurate data on grid utilisation and the condition of lines in real time.”
“It shows our involvement in the energy transition and energy efficiency, leaning on digital and 4.0 technologies.”
Gaëtan Servais, CEO of Noshaq, is delighted as well with Noshaq’s return to the capital of Ampacimon. “The area covered by Ampacimon is related to 2 of Noshaq’s 7 strategic sectors so it was important for us to be a partner in this capital increase. It shows our involvement in the energy transition and energy efficiency, leaning on digital and 4.0 technologies.”
Only ten years after its creation, Ampacimon has positioned itself as a company that offers monitoring solutions for power grids in the broadest sense of the term and throughout the world. Frédéric Vassort, CEO of Ampacimon, is also very satisfied with this new stage of growth and the involvement of new investors. “This will enable the team to offer innovative technological solutions to meet the network monitoring needs of our customers.”
Creos Luxembourg S.A. (Creos) owns and operates electricity (high, medium and low voltage) and natural gas (high, medium and low pressure) networks in Luxembourg as well as electricity and natural gas infrastructures in the Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) through its subsidiary. Its mission is to viably ensure energy transportation and distribution via electricity and natural gas grids at transparent rates in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Spin-off de l’@UniversiteLiege, #Ampacimon – qui développe des produits permettant de déterminer en temps réel la capacité des lignes à haute tension – lève 4 millions d’euros auprès de Korys, Gesval, Creos et @Noshaq_be. https://t.co/wlpFxf88zY
— CCI LVN (@CCILVN) August 26, 2020
