Union Square Ventures (USV), a U.S.-based venture capital firm known for its investments in Twitter, Etsy, and Coinbase, is funding the global expansion of Finnish energy storage company Cactos Oy.
USV, one of the major players in the global technology investment landscape, has made its first-ever investment in Finland by participating in a funding round for Cactos Oy. The round also included Finnish venture capital firm Superhero Capital, which had previously invested in Cactos.
Cactos, headquartered in Kempele, Finland, offers intelligent energy storage systems as a comprehensive service. With this new funding, the company aims to expand its operations beyond Finland to the Nordic region and other parts of Europe.
According to Brad Burnham, partner and co-founder of USV, the firm has been actively investing in technologies and services to help integrate renewable energy sources into today's electrical infrastructure.
“We are excited to add Cactos' energy storage solution to our portfolio.”
Brad Burnham noted that Cactos impressed Union Square Ventures with the comprehensiveness of its service. The company doesn’t just develop, manufacture, and install energy storage systems—it also operates, optimizes, maintains, and finances them. This cost-effective approach covers the entire value chain, from storing energy to utilizing it.
"We believe Cactos is poised to lead the energy storage market", Burnham said.
Cactos CEO Oskari Jaakkola said the timing for additional funding was ideal. While the company’s domestic operations are profitable, entering international markets requires significant investment. He added that the company’s goal in Sweden is to achieve revenue levels comparable to Finland.
“Our objective is to build a strong brand and stand out from the competition as a modern player offering comprehensive services. This is something the industry is currently lacking,” Jaakkola said.
Jaakkola noted that Sweden’s energy market does not differ significantly from Finland’s, but the competitive landscape in energy storage is different, as there are more players in the Swedish market. He emphasized that the demand for energy storage in Sweden is greater than in Finland.
“The further south you go in Europe, the greater the demand for energy storage becomes,” Jaakkola explained.
In addition to offering reliable and functional products, Jaakkola considers Cactos’ competitive edge to be its Finland-based manufacturing and management.
“This ensures the safety and quality of our products, which is crucial in Europe at the moment,” Jaakkola said.
When discussing electricity prices, Jaakkola pointed out that electricity in Finland is relatively cheap compared to many other countries. He also emphasized Finland’s strong infrastructure.
“In Finland, the electricity grid is mostly robust, but that’s not the case everywhere in the world,” Jaakkola stated.
Earlier this year, Finland’s transmission system operator Fingrid announced limitations on connecting new industrial electricity consumers to the grid in southern Finland for the years 2025–2027. The reason for this is the faster-than-expected growth in electricity consumption.
Jaakkola was not surprised by this news. He noted that the demand for solutions to manage peak electricity consumption and balance the grid is already high and continues to grow as electricity consumption increases.
“You don’t have to go far—Sweden or the Netherlands, for instance—to see how the availability of electricity connections is already limiting industrial activities. Energy storage plays a critical role in ensuring the sustainability of industrial operations, transportation, and economic growth as a whole,” Jaakkola said.
In total, Cactos raised a little over 7 million euros in this funding round.
Cactos Oy is a Finnish company that designs, manufactures, and operates intelligent energy storage systems. Its solutions enable efficient use of renewable energy while ensuring critical energy availability locally.
Cactos’ competitive edge lies in its end-to-end approach, which covers the entire value chain from energy storage to its utilization. The company’s Cactos Spine cloud service, powered by artificial intelligence, ensures that each battery storage system delivers maximum value to its customers.
In addition to optimizing, trading, and monitoring energy storage, Cactos also finances the systems through its managed infrastructure fund.
Currently, Cactos is the market leader for industrial-scale energy storage solutions in Finland. The company recently delivered its first grid-scale energy storage project. Its energy storage systems and key components, such as battery modules, are manufactured at its new production facility in Kempele, Finland.
