Katalysen portfolio venture Skawen ramps up European expansion following successfully closed funding
STOCKHOLM, 27 April 2022 - Founded in 2018, Stockholm-headquartered Skawen is a cleantech company on a mission to optimize energy recovery with smart ventilation solutions for industrial buildings, creating healthy indoor air in the process. An estimated 50% of Europe's energy is consumed by heating and cooling of buildings, with the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning market in Europe being valued at EUR 57 billion in 2020. Having successfully closed a funding round in April 2022, Skawen are now ramping up their European expansion plans. Katalysen has a direct ownership of about 4.3% in Skawen and participated in the funding round together with two external investors. Katalysen also has options to increase its ownership.
“We are thrilled and proud of the response from the European market. We have doubled our sales every year since our founding, and in 2022 we see even faster growth. This growth has given Skawen attention on the market and new sales distributors are joining continuously. Global events like the climate crises, cross-border energy dependency, and the pandemic have certainly created global awareness around the importance of energy savings and clean air”, commented Skawen’s CEO and co-founder Sten Mogard.
There exists a delicate balance when dealing with indoor air. Smart technology solutions are needed to reduce energy consumption, while simultaneously improving indoor air quality, without having a negative climate impact. Skawen essentially manufactures the heart and brain of the ventilation system to ensure not only optimized energy recovery but also cost savings for their customers.
“Our customers greatly value our innovative products with features such as lightweight fiber reinforced plastic casing, flatpack shipping & combined design and quotation tool. Clearly, we are doing something right, as even large competitors want to negotiate with us on developing white label products for them. Next on our product roadmap is launching thermodynamic software, air purifiers, acoustic attenuation, and IIoT-related software including a design for the data center industry.”
50% of Europe's energy is consumed by heating and cooling of buildings, and legislators are taking action to combat this massive energy usage. For example, the European Commission instated construction and building retrofit energy-saving regulations. And megatrends such as urbanization and smart cities also call for buildings to be energy efficient and greener all around.
“Skawen’s dedicated team with extensive industry experience, coupled with their strong R&D expertise and steady sales traction is why we believe Skawen will be a market pioneer in this traditional industry. We are happy to be a part of Skawen’s journey and look forward to supporting them even further as they grow”, stated Katalysen Ventures CEO and founder Peter Almberg.
Skawens organic growth, combined with the successful funding, positions the company well for ramping up European sales efforts with new signed sales distributors in Austria and Spain, kickstarting both new software and hardware product development, and expanding their production facilities in Estonia to meet growing customer demand. Skawen forecasts to break even in early 2023. You can meet Skawen and the team at Ecosummit Berlin 23-24 June 2022.