• Exclusive Content
  • Events
  • Endeavor Business Media Energy
    1. Renewables

    Floating Wind Startup Aikido Technologies Gains $4M Seed Funding

    June 21, 2024
    Earlier this year, Aikido Technologies awarded a contract to Chet Morrison Contractors for fabricating the 100-kW Aikido One pilot project. Morrison will build the platform in Harvey, Louisiana.
    Image credit ShutterDesigner/Shutterstock.com
    6675d808a85d152275249827 Akido Wind

    San Francisco-based startup Aikido Technologies has attracted more than $4 million in a seed investment round funding its plans for deploying floating wind energy.

    The Series Seed investment round announced this week was over-subscribed, according to the Aikido release. Azolla Ventures led the financing, followed with participation from Propeller Ventures, Sabanci Climate Ventures, Cisco Foundation and Anthropocene Ventures.

    “Bringing strong financial investors to the table represents a huge milestone for Aikido and for the floating wind industry writ large,” CEO Sam Kanner said in a statement. “Floating wind must become commercialized by the end of the decade so that we can meet decarbonization targets set by pioneering offshore wind countries, including the U.S., U.K. and others in Europe and Asia."

    Earlier this year, Aikido Technologies awarded a contract to Chet Morrison Contractors for fabricating the 100-kW Aikido One pilot project. Morrison will build the platform in Harvey, Louisiana.

    Aikido hopes to begin testing at the site once the construction project is completed later this year.

    Proponents theorize that floating wind can slash offshore wind project costs. For instance, key features of the floating wind platform include pin joints that enable serialized production of steel components; design allowing fold-up during assembly to reduce space in shipyards or port facilities; and a custom-fit, reusable assembly structure.

    The floating wind startup has been backed by original funder Breakthrough Energy Fellows, which also is supporting the pilot deployment on the Louisiana coast. The American Bureau of Shipping also has been involved as a supper of Aikido Technologies since 2022.

    “I welcome the announcement of this financing as a great signal for Aikido and the strength of the floating wind industry,” said Rob Langford, vice president of global offshore wind for the American Bureau of Shipping. “I look forward to following the Aikido One project and their progress in the coming years.”

    The Aikido Platform is a semi-submersible platform that can transport a fully assembled floating wind turbine to be shipped horizontally and fit in shallow water ports. The platform can be ballasted with seawater, according to the company.

     

    About the Author

    Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor | Senior Editor

    For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].

    Rod Walton has spent 15 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

    He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.

    Email