Polar Night Energy is a Tampere-based startup that designs and builds heat storages for renewable energy.
The company raised about half a million euros in its just-completed round of financing. The funding is used to hire employees, develop products, and commercialize services.
The successful financing round enables our market entry and leads us to a growth path. We are at a good position in several negotiations of commercial-scale plants, says Markku Ylönen, Chairman of the Board of Polar Night Energy.
The financing round was led by Liquido Ventures Oy, which specializes in helping Finnish early-stage high-tech startups.
“There is a huge need in the world to store renewable energy and the market is desiring for solutions that are climate-friendly. Polar Night Energy has great potential” says Jussi Muurikainen, CEO of Liquido Ventures.
A number of angel investors and business professionals participated in the financing round. According to Muurikainen, Polar Night Energy convinced investors with scalable technology, a reliable team, and a strong research base.
Growth and sales expertise to the Board of Polar Night Energy
Polar Night Energy’s Annual General Meeting elected two new members to the company’s Board of Directors: Antti Aarnio and Saku Oikarinen.
Antti Aarnio is the director of the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation and the CEO of the Finnish Foundation for Technology Promotion. Aarnio has a master’s degree in economics.
He has worked in business, science, and research for over 20 years. During his career, Aarnio has been closely developing the business of more than a hundred companies. Among other things, Aarnio has run a business accelerator and been involved in commercializing university-based business ideas.
“In my career, I have been involved in evaluating more than 3,000 different business ideas or technologies. I see that Polar Night Energy has all the elements to a big story. The company has a unique technology, a great team and it works in an important field” says Aarnio.
Saku Oikarinen is the Country Director of Finland and Norway at Reckitt (Reckitt Hygiene). He has made his career in sales and management positions. He has a master’s degree in economics. Oikarinen is also involved as an investor.
“I invested in Polar Night Energy because I am concerned about the environment. I want to help us find solutions to the climate crisis. I have two children and already in their lifetime the situation will go really bad if we do not find sensible solutions to the crisis. These must also be financially profitable”Oikarinen says.
Oikarinen has first-hand experience of growing a company internationally, leading to its successful acquisition. He also intends to use that expertise on the PNE board.
“There is a lot of engineering work behind Polar Night Energy. Personally, I try to bring in my experience in commercialization, customer strategies and sales work.”
