San Francisco-based floating tech outfit Aikido Technologies has secured $4m in seed funding to advance its platform technology and establish pilot demonstrator projects.
The financing was led by Azolla Ventures with input from Propeller Ventures, Sabanci Cisco Foundation, Anthropocene Ventures and Climate Ventures.
The US technology developer said it will use the capital to advance its solutions for offshore deployment, build its team, and develop a commercial pipeline.
“Bringing strong financial investors to the table represents a huge milestone for Aikido and for the floating wind industry writ large,” said Aikido chief executive Sam Kanner.
“Floating wind must become commercialised by the end of the decade so that we can meet decarbonisation targets set by pioneering offshore wind countries, including the US, UK and others in Europe and Asia.
“We believe that our technology suite represents a step change in reducing costs, simplifying logistics and increasing throughput of floating wind systems.”
Aikido is currently building its inaugural Aikido One platform with fabrication partner Morrison Energy in Harvey, Louisiana. Once completed, it plans to demonstrate the technology in the Gulf Coast in autumn 2024.
The structure is designed for floating turbines and is said to heavily cut project costs.