THE parent company of electric vehicle specialist broker, Octopus EV, has become a unicorn.
The rare £1bn valuation follows the investment of Australia’s leading energy company, Origin Energy, with a 20% stake in Octopus Energy.
The new partnership allows Origin to licence Octopus Energy’s technology platform, Kraken, to accelerate the transformation of its Australian retail business.
Origin will also provide a three year company guarantee to support the working capital for Octopus Energy’s UK and international energy business.
Octopus Energy says the investment will help it expand in more markets, invest in deeper technology development, and establish a Future Energy Research Centre. The business remains majority owned by Octopus Group, the £9bn UK investor in energy, technology and growth businesses.
Octopus is the UK’s largest investor in solar energy, and has recently announced Australia’s largest solar farm.
Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
