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AC Cleantech Growth Fund I administered by Ahlström Capital and the Energy Programme of Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund will invest a total of 4 million euro in NEAPO Corporation. The investment will support the company’s growth and internationalization. NEAPO develops, markets and supplies innovative building solutions for modular construction and refurbishment projects.
”The participation of Ahlström Capital and Sitra gives a major boost to the implementation of NEAPO’s growth strategy and internationalization. Most importantly, the financial and expertise resources provided by the new shareholders will enable us to develop our customer service, cost-efficiency and environmentally sound products to better meet the needs of each customer”, says Olli Vuola, CEO of NEAPO.
”NEAPO’s structural solution, combined with industrial manufacturing in the factory enables efficient construction in terms of energy and materials in both new construction and refurbishing projects. The company’s technology has many interesting areas of application also in the export market, which makes it an attractive investment object”, says Jacob af Forselles, Investment Director, Industrial Investments at Ahlström Capital.
Energy savings through additional floors and added comfort through external lift towers
NEAPO’s modular solutions for refurbishing projects, such as additional floors and retrofitted external lift towers, can be used to cost-efficiently improve the energy-efficiency and enhance the comfort of blocks of flats in need of refurbishment. The added new floors allow the owners of the building to finance a more extensive refurbishment for improved energy-efficiency.
”In a number of projects studied the need for heating energy could be as much as halved from its current level. That would mean an annual savings potential of 2 billion kilowatt hours in heating energy and around 0,5 million tonnes lower carbon dioxide emissions for the blocks of flats built in the 1960s and 70s in Finland”, says Sami Tuhkanen, Senior Lead, Venture Capital of Sitra’s Energy Programme.
Pioneer of modular construction
NEAPO is a pioneer of modular construction in Finland. The solutions for blocks of flats, additional floors and lift towers that combine impressive architecture with energy-efficiency and quality open new opportunities in the construction industry. NEAPO uses in its products the advanced FIXCEL® steel sandwich structure technology which was originally developed in shipbuilding industry and has been patented world-wide. Steel sandwich structures belong to the most promising types of products for the further development of modular construction.
FIXCEL® steel sandwich structure is 100% recyclable. The energy consumption of FIXCEL® construction material during its lifecycle is nearly 40% lower and the CO2 emissions nearly 60% lower than the building materials used in the industry in average. FIXCEL® is hermetically tight by nature, so it is ideally suited to environmentally sound low-energy construction.
Further information
Olli Vuola, CEO, NEAPO Oy, Tel. +358 40 555 4646, firstname.lastname @ neapo.fi
Jacob af Forselles, Investment Director, Industrial Investments, Ahlström Capital Oy, Tel. +358 40 550 2379, firstname.af.forselles @ ahlstromcapital.com
Sami Tuhkanen, Senior Lead, Venture Capital, Sitra, Tel. +358 40 548 3482, firstname.lastname @ www.sitra.fi
Hanna Mielismäki, Communications Officer, Tel. +358 44 0688 305, firstname.lastname @ neapo.fi
Tuula Laitinen, Communications and Networks Lead, Tel. +358 50 3738 601, firstname.lastname @ www.sitra.fi
NEAPO Oy develops, markets and supplies innovative building solutions for modular construction and refurbishing projects.
Ahlström Capital Oy is a private equity investment company that creates added value for its owners by channelling its investments primarily into industrial companies. With roughly 190 million euros in capital, the company is one of Finland’s biggest private equity investors. In addition, Ahlström Capital manages the AC Cleanted Growth Fund I which invests in cleantech companies.
Sitra’s Energy Programme contributes to improving the energy-efficiency of the built environment and the energy awareness of Finns, in addition to creating new business opportunities from the transition that the energy sector is undergoing. The programme will seek innovative operating models and technologies to attain improved energy efficiency and invest in companies in the sector to accelerate their growth and internationalization.