Source: DRIFT Energy
British startup DRIFT Energy has completed a seed funding round to generate green energy at sea using state-of-the-art sailing vessels.
Led by Octopus Ventures, one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the UK and Europe, and backed by Blue Action Accelerator, the company has raised £4.65 million ($6 million) to help it achieve its goal of starting ship production next year.
DRIFT Energy aims to deploy a fleet of powerful sailing vessels that harness deep-sea wind to produce green hydrogen at sea and deliver it worldwide.
DRIFT has developed a unique ship routing algorithm that allows the yacht to find and maintain optimal weather conditions and return to port when its hydrogen tank is full.
According to DRIFT, it can take 13 years to locate, plan, design and commission an offshore wind farm. A comparable fleet of DRIFT vessels could be built in a tenth of the time. Because less planning, surveys and no subsea infrastructure are required, DRIFT can be commissioned much faster.
DRIFT Energy also recently received funding from Innovate UK, the UK innovation agency, as part of its Investor Partnership Programme.
