Skeleton Technologies CEO Taavi Madiberk & Chairman Oliver Ahlberg | Image credit: Skeleton Technologies
Tallinn, Estonia-based Skeleton Technologies, a manufacturer and developer of high energy and power density ultracapacitors, has announced the closing of a further €29M in its Series D round of funding. With this development, the total funding in Round D now amounts to €70.4M – including the €41.3M announced in November 2020.
This round follows the company’s €51M funding by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Free State of Saxony, announced in March 2021.
Recently, the winners of the 2021 Future Hamburg Award were announced.
And this brings the company’s total capital raised, in the last 12 months, to over €120M.
How is Skeleton Technologies different from its competitors?
As most of the energy industry is currently focusing on incremental improvements of a generally similar li-ion battery technology, Skeleton has chosen to differentiate itself by focusing on materials technology, having created the patented Curved Graphene material.
Taavi Madiberk explains, “Unlike Tesla, Panasonic, or LG who use similar raw materials and compete in engineering, Skeleton has taken an alternative approach and has focused on vertical integration based on our proprietary curved graphene material. In terms of commercialisation, we have started with a relatively niche market of supercapacitors and are now moving to Superbatteries, covering the high efficiency, high power niche of the battery market.”
He says, “As the next step of our strategy, we aim at merging the long lifetime, fast charging supercapacitors and high energy, long-duration battery technology, to allow us to offer a more competitive long range EV battery than currently on the market or in the development pipeline.”
Developer of high energy and power density ultracapacitors
Founded in 2009 by Oliver Ahlberg and Taavi Madiberk, Skeleton Technologies is a manufacturer and developer of high energy and power density ultracapacitors based on patented curved graphene material. Through the use of patented nanoporous carbide-derived carbon, or ‘curved graphene’, they have achieved breakthroughs in ultracapacitor performance.
The company claims to deliver high power, high energy, reliable, and long-life storage solutions across industries, including automotive, transportation, grid, and industrial applications. Its ultracapacitors deliver twice the energy density and four times the power density offered by other manufacturers.
By producing the ultracapacitor cells, modules, and systems, Skeleton Technologies aim to help companies to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy.
In a statement, Skeleton mentions, “We work with some of the largest companies in the world – from leading Tier One automotive firms and industrial equipment OEMs to truck fleet operators and aerospace prime contractors – to decrease CO2 emissions and fuel consumption, to improve power quality and protect equipment and infrastructure from power peaks, and to power electrification to fight climate change.”
The company has three main locations: its manufacturing in Großröhrsdorf, Saxony, Germany, materials development in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt and electrical engineering in Tallinn, Estonia.
With a workforce of 200 team members, the company has three main locations for its operations: manufacturing in Großröhrsdorf, Saxony, (Germany); materials development in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt (Germany); and electrical engineering in Tallinn, (Estonia).
Investors in this round
The investors in this round include Marubeni Corporation and several early backers of the company such as MM Grupp and Harju Elekter, and more recent ones including European industrial investors and a group of Adyen alumni.
Taavi Madiberk, CEO & co-founder of Skeleton Technologies, says, “Skeleton is growing fast and preparing for the next stage in the company’s lifecycle, which will include a significant scaling up of our operations, supported by strong growth in customer demand. The company is backed by leading industrial investors from Marubeni and InnoEnergy to the founders of Adyen.
He adds, “Most of the investors who joined the company at the end of last year not only participated in the round but wanted to increase their stake in the company. It is a great proof of trust generated by the good progress all these investors have seen over the last six months since becoming shareholders.”
