PRESS /
Decade Energy closes €3.6m seed capital round to accelerate the decarbonisation of logistics fleets
Paris, France, Tuesday 4 June 2024
Summary
- The €3.6m funding round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures and Contrarian Ventures.
- Decade Energy is led by Volta Trucks Founder and the team behind Truck-as-a-Service.
- The company integrates best-in-class electric vehicle (EV) technology to simplify the commercial EV transition and optimize the energy consumption of logistics depots.
Decade Energy, the logistics electrification and energy management service provider, has raised €3.6 million in seed funding to accelerate the decarbonisation of logistics fleets by simplifying the transition to electric vehicles (EV) and making them cost-competitive compared to diesel.
The company is founded by the founder of Volta Trucks and the team behind its Truck-as-a-Service solution, who since 2019 have helped major European logistics companies transition to electric fleets.
The round is led by Ananda Impact Ventures and Contrarian Ventures.
Lack of truck electrification threatens progress towards climate targets
Accelerating the electrification of trucks is critical if Europe is to meet its target of 24% reduction in emissions by 2030. Road transport represents 22% of CO2 emissions in Europe, of which trucks and vans stand for about half, roughly 10%.
Significant progress has been made in electrifying buses, with 27% of the fleet now electric, and in the car market, where 14% of new car sales in 2023 were electric. However, zero-emission (ZE) technologies still represent only 2% of the European truck fleet. Given that trucks and vans are responsible for around half of all road transport emissions, transitioning to electric trucks is essential. However, the complexities of the required infrastructure for operating an electrified fleet have become the primary bottleneck in urban fleet electrification.
Enabling commercial fleet electrification
Decade Energy provides logistics companies with holistic, reliable and cost-efficient solutions that enable the electrification of commercial electric vehicle fleets.
While the individual components needed for commercial fleet electrification are available, the necessary infrastructure to operate an electrified fleet remains complex and fragmented. Logistics companies need to piece together and manage these systems themselves, resulting in costly installations, poor reliability, and inefficiencies. Decade Energy simplifies the electrification process, by integrating and managing these systems for customers enhancing both operational and environmental efficiency for logistics providers.
This approach makes electric vehicles cost-competitive with diesel and will save millions of tonnes of GHG emissions.
“While original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have invested in EV supply chains, retailers are demanding zero-emission transportation, and logistics companies have set firm decarbonisation targets, we still see too few electric trucks on the road.
Our experience from Volta Trucks is that the complexity and fragmentation of the EV ecosystem makes the transition unmanageable and electric vehicles uncompetitive.
By offering a solution that integrates best-in-class partners and technologies, Decade Energy allows logistics companies to focus on their core business and realize the cost advantage that electric fleets offer.”
– Casper Norden CEO of Decade Energy
Deep experience in commercial fleet electrification
Decade Energy was founded by Volta Trucks founder Carl-Magnus Norden and the team behind its Truck-as-a-Service solution, which supported major logistics companies in electrifying their fleets and upgrading their charging and electrical infrastructure.
Casper Norden, who built Truck-as-a-Service, will lead Decade Energy as CEO. The other three co-founders are Alexandre Cleret, Alejandro Ortega Peniche and Mariela Atanasova, who led the development of financial and energy management services within Volta Trucks.
“A key driver for our investment in Decade Energy is the team’s strong experience in helping fleets electrify. Having conducted over 500 depot assessments for all the leading logistics companies across Europe, we feel that the team behind Decade Energy understands what’s missing for the transition to happen for commercial fleets.
Combine this with their refined vision and strong network in the industry, and you get a company that can really have an impact on the decarbonisation of logistics.”
– Florian Erber, Founding Partner at Ananda Impact Ventures
Large, first-mover market in need of innovation
European roads support over 6.5m trucks and 35m vans. Distribution traffic, which feature short, predictable routes and which can be serviced by existing and proven technology, are expected to electrify in outsized proportion as the industry moves to meet climate targets and tightening regulation. Decade Energy’s services simplify the electrification and efficient energy consumption within distribution traffic depots, which is crucial to the transition.
“Decade Energy addresses the large and rapidly growing market of distribution traffic electrification that needs innovative solution and technology providers like Decade Energy if we are to meet our climate targets.
The team’s focus on and experience of servicing the segment that will be the first to be disrupted, is one of many strengths that influenced our decision to partner with the company.”
– Tomas Kemtys, Partner at Contrarian Ventures
The company is headquartered in Paris, but has a pan-European network and presence in order to service its international customers. Its first three core markets are France, Germany and Sweden.
Enabling an order of magnitude increase in electricity consumption
As distribution traffic electrifies, the logistics depots supporting electric vehicle fleets will see an order of magnitude increase in electricity consumption demand. Decade Energy provides integrated smart charging and energy management software that drastically reduces not only the overall energy need, but also the cost of electricity consumed. By integrating the different energy infrastructure components in a logistics depot and making them run as one integrated system, electric fleets can achieve cost profiles far superior to those of diesel fleets.
“Decade Energy’s software platform reverses the current 'push' dynamic of electrification, where the transition is primarily driven by policy, regulation, and consumer demand, to a “pull” dynamic, where operators seek to benefit from cost advantages.
To achieve scaled electrification the shift has to make economic sense, which we achieve by connecting the different parts of the ecosystem and making them run as one efficient unit.”
– Mariela Atanasova, Head of Energy Services, Decade Energy
Track-record in impact investing
Ananda Impact Ventures was founded in 2010 and has invested over €100m in impact- and decarbonisation-focused companies. Contrarian Ventures was founded in 2017 and has invested in over 70 climate tech founders. Florian Erber, Founding Partner of Ananda Impact Ventures and Tomas Kemtys, Partner at Contrarian Ventures, will join the Decade Energy board.
“We are very happy to partner with such experienced and knowledgeable investors who share our entrepreneurial mindset and passion for decarbonisation. It’s a real asset to the company to have such investors join our journey.”
– Carl-Magnus Norden, Co-Founder and Chairman of Decade Energy
For further information, please contact:
Casper Norden
CEO
casper.norden@decade.energy
+33 66 654 3525
+46 70 230 4071