Cambridge and London based Origami Energy, a fast growing technology platform provider to the energy market, has raised a total of £18.6 million in its latest funding round.

This takes the total funds raised by the company to £36m since 2014 and includes a major investment from FTSE-listed Aggreko plc, a global leader in on-site power generation with a presence in over 100 countries. 

Current investors who participated in the latest funding round include Octopus Ventures, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and Fred. Olsen-related companies.

Over the last 12 months Origami Energy has progressed from deploying commercial projects with industrial and commercial customers to signing multi-year partnership agreements with leading energy suppliers around the world. These include SmartestEnergy – owned by Marubeni, the Japanese-headquartered global trading company – and the renewables specialist Good Energy plc.

The new funding round provides the company with additional capital to continue the delivery of its growth plans and become a strategic technology partner for some of the world’s largest energy companies. 

The funds will be used to help accelerate the growth of Origami Energy in the UK and to prepare for international deployment.

Andrew Williamson of Cambridge Innovation Capital said: “We are pleased to see that Origami Energy continues to meet key targets in commercialising its technology to provide value to energy market participants. We look forward to working with the company during the next phase of its expansion.”

Origami Energy chief executive Peter Bance added: “The continued support of our existing shareholders and Aggreko’s major investment in our company demonstrates their confidence in our business growth. 

“Furthermore, our recent partnership announcements with SmartestEnergy and Good Energy demonstrate that innovative energy market players realise the value in using our intelligent technology platform to improve their profitability by enabling new services.”

Energy flexibility – the ability for generation, storage and demand assets to turn up/down or on/off – is growing in importance globally as the industry embraces the structural changes resulting from decentralisation, decarbonisation and digitalisation. 

By harnessing energy flexibility, Origami Energy’s technology enables greater use of renewables and increases profitability for energy market participants including energy suppliers, traders and distributed energy asset owners.

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Peter Bance, CEO of Origami Energy