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Instagrid: A portable off-grid power solution

Instagrid One

Climate tech company Instagrid has developed a more efficient way to deliver high-performance power to off-grid locations, such as construction sites and outdoor events. Instagrid ranked 13th in the FT-1000 list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies in 2024.

Asset Class
TVG

Asset Class

Sector
Climate tech

Sector

Year invested
2024

Year invested

Person cutting

The company

Instagrid, a European climate tech company headquartered in Germany, is providing an alternative to off-grid power solutions with its innovative battery technology. Founded by former Bosch executives Sebastian Berning and Andreas Sedlmayr, Instagrid addresses the limitations of traditional power sources in remote areas or grid-limited environments, such as construction sites and outdoor events. 

The system’s disruptive technology offers portable, high-performance battery systems that rival diesel generators while lowering operating costs, maintenance costs and emissions. Engineered by rebuilding the battery pack from the ground up to include sophisticated power electronics and a novel system of multi-level micro inverters, its market-leading peak power performance powers anything with a plug.

Instagrid batteries

The opportunity

In 2024, we led a $95mn (€95m) Series C investment in the European climate tech company through Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG). We were attracted to Instagrid’s long-term growth potential and environmental benefits because the company’s battery system solves a big problem in off-grid power, offering a cleaner, more efficient option compared to traditional generators. It also offered a clear value proposition and proven market success, with a track record of doubling revenues and building strong customer relationships.

Instagrid’s thoughtful approach to scale-up was also a key factor to why we invested. Instagrid’s products are designed with scaled production in mind from day one and the business has established a strong and robust supply chain to support its growth ambitions.

The OTPP difference

As a global investor with presence across five continents and many years of experience in helping companies grow in new markets, Ontario Teachers’ is well-placed to help fuel expansion into North America, as well as connect Instagrid with our portfolio companies in real estate, infrastructure and other target sectors. Together, we’re helping to reshape the off-grid power landscape and unlock opportunities that drive both long-term returns and environmental impact.

Instagrid’s impact assessment

In addition to our existing sustainable investing processes on due diligence and a selection of portfolio management and monitoring, we undertake an assessment of a selection of portfolio companies’ potential positive and negative impact, including an analysis of the theory of change for achieving the positive impact. Below are the dimensions we considered when undertaking Instagrid’s impact assessment.

What:

We seek to identify the outcomes the company is contributing to and how important the outcomes are to stakeholders. Instagrid’s innovative battery technology offers those working with combustion generators an alternative which is lower cost, easier to use while contributing significantly lower levels of certain local air pollutants during usage if used instead of gasoline or diesel generator.

Who:

Who describes the people and communities experiencing the outcome. Instagrid’s flagship product serves professionals working in off-grid locations such as construction, workers, emergency responders, events and media crews and trades people needing access to mobile power.

How Much:

We seek to assess how much of the outcome occurs in terms of depth, scale, and duration. More than 50 million small non-road combustion engines are built every year to service industries without access to grid power. Instagrid’s flagship products are estimated to generate 14% of the lifecycle CO2 emission of a gasoline generator and 8% of a diesel generator1, based on a third-party validated lifecycle analysis (LCA).

 

Risk:

We seek to assess the likelihood that impact will be different than expected. For Instagrid, we saw limited availability of data and analysis on the comparative emissions performance between portable batteries and fossil fuel-powered generators. This creates some uncertainty in the impact quantification and may be lower than anticipated. Instagrid has developed its own model and calculation to evidence the impact. This evidence risk has been mitigated by the third-party audit of their LCA, and review of Instagrid’s model.

1 Based on an average user profile as described in the third-party validated lifecycle analysis (LCA): Instagrid. 2023. Critical review of comparative Life Cycle Assessment of a battery power supply system and two new efficient gasoline and diesel generators. 

Instagrid is using game changing technology to create lasting value for the industry. Eliminating the monolithic inverter allows for a novel system of software and power electronics. This makes Instagrid products drastically smaller, lighter and more powerful than other systems.

Kieran Mahanty
Director, Teachers’ Venture Growth
Kieran Mahanty

Instagrid’s results

  • Instagrid is one of Europe’s fastest growing companies with demonstrated commercial traction across Europe*. It has shipped >40,000 units of its flagship product across 29 countries

  • From day one, Instagrid has prioritized long-term profitability, strategically investing in scalable production, global expansion and substantial R&D efforts. This proactive approach helps to position the company for success in tackling off-grid power challenges worldwide.

  • Instagrid ONE is a portable battery powerful enough to pump 55,000 litres of water. According to an EU-funded study, the lifecycle CO2 emissions of an Instagrid ONE max battery are only 13% of the lifecycle CO2 emissions of a gasoline generator and only 8% of a diesel generator, reducing the total greenhouse gas emissions by 97%. 

  • Instagrid’s flagship product, GO 36, delivers up to 5x the peak power output of a comparable generator (with no local emissions).  

*FT 1000: Europe’s fastest-growing companies

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