Swedish marine tech firm Candela – known for cracking the code for long-range electric crafts and topping electric boat sales – has announced it’s raised €24M, led by EQT Ventures, with participation from existing investor Chris Anderson, the Curator of TED.
Candela says the new capital will boost the company’s already substantial cash influx from sales and will be used to triple R&D, invest in production automation and scale up the sales organisation to meet demand for Candela’s electric leisure and commercial vessels worldwide.
The shift to zero-emission boats and ships has been hampered by the enormous energy consumption and correspondingly low range of conventional electric boats. Flying on computer-guided underwater wings -- known as hydrofoils -- that reduce energy consumption by 80% compared to conventional planing craft, Candela’s vessels soar above the waves in silence with 2-3 times longer endurance than the best conventional electric powerboats. The active hydrofoil system stabilises the vessels in-flight using computer power and advanced software that accounts for waves and side winds, allowing for a wake-free and smoother ride than conventional boats.
Over the past three years, Candela’s high-tech hydrofoil vessels have disrupted the global boating industry by being the first to offer the elusive combination of long all-electric range and high speed. Since 2019, Candela has led electric boat sales in Europe with its foiling C-7 sportsboat. Now, the company is building on this success with the mass market Candela C-8, a day cruiser that the company has close to 100 orders for, just three months after launch.
