Amsterdam-based Sympower has raised €19 million from Dutch pension fund manager PGGM, extending its Series B1 round to a total of €42 million.
PGGM, which manages over €250 billion on behalf of the Dutch healthcare pension fund PFZW, will join Sympower’s supervisory board, providing institutional expertise and long-term strategic guidance. The investment is part of PGGM’s €1 billion Climate and Energy Transition Solutions (CETS) mandate, a fund dedicated to financing innovative technologies that accelerate Europe’s decarbonisation efforts.
This fresh capital will fuel the company’s expansion of battery energy storage system (BESS) operations, support strategic mergers and acquisitions, and solidify its role as a leading independent flexibility service provider across Europe’s evolving energy landscape.
To date, Sympower has raised €42 million through its Series B1 round, supported by impact investors such as A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund, Activate Capital, Rubio Impact Ventures, PDENH, and Expon Capital.
Balancing electricity demand when renewable generation fluctuates
Founded in 2015 by Simon Bushell, a former energy systems consultant with a background in climate policy, Sympower was created to address a critical challenge: as Europe shifts towards renewable energy, the grid requires greater flexibility to balance fluctuating supply and demand. Bushell recognised early on that simply adding more renewable generation capacity would not ensure grid stability.
Sympower operates in a competitive space alongside players such as Shell-owned Limejump and Next Kraftwerke, Tesla’s Autobidder platform, UK-based Flexitricity, and Octopus Energy’s KrakenFlex.
Unlike many of its rivals, Sympower’s independence gives it a notable edge: building customer trust through market neutrality and leveraging a software-driven optimisation platform that integrates diverse distributed energy assets more quickly across borders than hardware-focused or single-market competitors.
With over a decade of experience, Sympower now manages more than 2.7 GW of flexible distributed energy assets across multiple European countries. Its portfolio includes over 500 MW of battery storage capacity in the Nordics, significant grid-scale projects in Sweden and Finland, and a recent launch of BESS optimisation services in Greece.
As the European Union pursues ambitious carbon neutrality targets for 2030 and 2050, solutions like Sympower’s flexibility services are becoming critical.
What’s next?
PGGM’s funding will not only accelerate Sympower’s growth but also align with a broader trend of institutional capital flow into clean energy infrastructure. The CETS mandate has already invested €800 million in companies, including SCW Systems, Carbon Collectors, and RIFT, focusing on measurable emissions reductions alongside stable, long-term returns for PFZW participants.
”Sympower has a highly skilled team that has built a leading flexibility platform. Our investment will contribute to the next phase of the company’s growth and into new markets. This investment in Sympower fits very well with the Climate and Energy Transition Solutions (CETS) mandate given to us by Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW),” said Tim van den Brule, investment director at PGGM Infrastructure.
Looking ahead, while Sympower’s focus remains firmly on Europe, the company acknowledges that global demand for flexibility services is rising, making broader expansion a potential future direction.
Bushell concludes, “The next chapter for Sympower is all about scale: strategic M&A, deeper BESS integration, and new markets. This round gives us the capital and the confidence to accelerate, and with PGGM by our side, we’re better positioned than ever to help Europe build a cleaner, smarter energy system.”
