Caeli Wind, the digital platform for wind energy sites, secures €11 million in fresh capital in a Series A funding round.

May 16, 2024

Notion Capital, Santander Alternative Investments and existing investors provide the digital wind energy pioneer with growth capital for deeper value creation and international expansion.

Berlin, London, Madrid (16 May 2024) – Caeli Wind, the platform for analysing and marketing wind energy locations founded by Ben Schlemmermeier and Heiko Bartels in 2022, announced today that it has secured €11 million in growth capital from international investors.

The round was led by renowned UK venture capital fund Notion Capital with the participation of Santander Alternative Investments and existing investors such as HTGF.

Caeli has developed an advanced AI-based analysis system and a marketplace to accelerate the expansion of wind turbines. In 2023, the company was able to identify 173 new locations for wind turbines in Germany and allocate them to project developers and energy suppliers. On average, the AI company accelerates the realisation of wind farms by 18 months thanks to its digital analysis and awarding platform.

The company has now attracted the attention of international investors thanks to its successful market development in its home market.

The newly acquired capital will be used for international expansion, deepening the value chain and further developing Caeli’s advanced technologies. “There is an urgent need for digital transformation in the energy market. Bringing landowners and project developers for wind farms together on an equal footing is not just a German issue, but a global one,” explains Heiko Bartels. “Our technology has shown that complex planning and approval processes can be shortened by 18 months. With the newly raised capital, we will help project developers even more to conserve their human resources and accelerate their business,” emphasises Ben Schlemmermeier.

Caeli Wind’s platform represents a significant leap forward in modernising a crucial segment of the wind energy value chain, one that has been largely untouched by software innovation so far. The founders’ deep domain expertise puts them in a unique position to build a global category leader in the wind energy market, thereby accelerating the renewable energy transition. We are looking forward to the journey together.

Stephen Chandler, Managing Partner Notion Capital (Lead Investor)

Santander is one of the world´s largest financiers of renewables[1]. Our ambition is to accompany companies that make a significant contribution to decarbonisation and have immense growth potential on this journey. We are pleased to support Caeli Wind in its steps abroad with capital and expertise.

Santiago Gil, Lead of Santander InnoEnergy Climate Fund

We invested in Caeli in 2023 because we recognised that the company could become a game changer in the energy market. Caeli’s development since then has been truly impressive and is reason enough to further increase our investment in this German flagship company.

Klaus Lehmann, Partner HTGF and existing investor

Schlemmermeier and Bartels added: “We are delighted with the new financing round. Caeli is developing into a real catalyst for the energy transition. This has always been our goal. We are happy and proud to have found two partners in Notion Capital and Santander who will support our vision in the best possible way with their respective networks and expertise.”

[1] 3rd position according to Infralogic league tables as Loan provider by number of deals in Q1 2024

About Caeli Wind
Caeli Wind is a digital marketplace that identifies wind potential locations for landowners and enables professional AI-supported analysis and marketing. We want to drastically increase the likelihood and speed of realisation in the wind industry – that’s why we bring project developers and landowners together on our marketplace and create land liquidity.
https://www.caeli-wind.de/home

About Notion Capital
Notion Capital is a European B2B SaaS and Cloud VC with over $1bn assets under management and with more than 100 investments to date. The Notion team founded, built and exited two highly successful SaaS businesses – Star and MessageLabs – and invests exclusively in exceptional founders with the ambition to build global category leaders. The Notion portfolio includes GoCardless, Mews, Paddle, Unbabel and YuLife. Notion is also the founder of Included VC, the venture capital fellowship for individuals from diverse and overlooked communities from around the world.
https://www.notion.vc/

About Santander Alternative Investments
Santander Alternative Investments (“SAI”) is the specialized division of Santander Asset Management that focuses on alternative investment opportunities SAI was created in 2023, with the objective of providing solutions to investors pivoting their portfolios into private markets. As part of Santander Group, we have the strength and backing of a leading financial group, enabling us to give our clients access to extensive capabilities for distribution in ten major markets and for origination in those activities in which the bank is an expert.

About High-Tech Gründerfonds
The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances tech start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 750 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of its fourth fund, HTGF now has about 1.4 billion euros under management. Its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts support young companies with expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected about 5 billion euros of capital into the HTGF portfolio via more than 2,000 follow-on financing rounds. In addition, HTGF has already successfully sold shares in more than 180 companies.

Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries.

Media contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH  
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager   
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121 
t.jacob@htgf.de