Axle Energy, a British energy flexibility platform that turns EV chargers, batteries and heat pumps into grid-balancing capacity, has raised €21 million ($25 million) in Series A to expand across the UK and international markets, allowing Axle to connect more distributed energy assets and expand partnerships with OEMs, utilities and
David Cendon Garcia
Axle Energy, a British energy flexibility platform that turns EV chargers, batteries and heat pumps into grid-balancing capacity, has raised €21 million ($25 million) in Series A to expand across the UK and international markets, allowing Axle to connect more distributed energy assets and expand partnerships with OEMs, utilities and fleet operators.
The round was led by Energize Capital, with participation from existing investors Accel, Picus Capital and Eka Ventures.
Karl Bach, CEO and co-founder of Axle Energy, says: “Energy security is no longer just about where our energy comes from. AI and electrification are increasing electricity demand at a pace that power systems were not designed for. Recent geopolitical events have highlighted the risks of relying on international commodity markets, while new generation and grid infrastructure can take years to build.
“Virtual power plants unlock capacity from infrastructure that already exists, bringing flexible capacity online in weeks rather than years and reducing the need to rely on expensive fossil-fuel generation when demand spikes.”
Axle Energy’s Series A follows a series of 2026 EU-Startups-reported funding rounds into European energy flexibility, battery optimisation, virtual power plant, energy data and adjacent grid-balancing infrastructure.
Comparable and adjacent rounds include Capalo AI’s €11 million Series A in Helsinki, Hybrid Greentech’s €15 million investment in Copenhagen, Entrix’s €43 million raise in Munich, metiundo’s €40 million round in Berlin, Ghent-based Companion.energy’s €7.8 million Seed round and Edinburgh-based Exergy3’s €11.4 million Seed round.
Across the 2026 EU-Startups examples identified, disclosed funding in this segment totals approximately €210 million.
EU-Startups also previously covered Axle Energy’s €1.5 million pre-Seed round in 2023 and €8.3 million Seed round in 2024.
Tyler Lancaster, Partner at Energize Capital adds: “As energy software investors, we have researched the VPP market for a decade, watching for the right team to scale this technology. Axle brings the most comprehensive vision, experienced and agile team, and customer-aligned, scalable business model we’ve seen.
“As U.S. and European markets face a watershed moment for grid strain due to AI power demand, we believe Axle can be a blueprint for what can become a global solution.”
Founded in 2023, Axle Energy is an energy flexibility platform that helps turn EV chargers, home batteries, heat pumps and other distributed energy assets into virtual power plants. Its software enables OEMs, energy suppliers and fleet operators to connect flexible assets to electricity markets – helping balance the grid at lower cost.
Axle currently coordinates more than 300,000 connected assets and manages more than 2GW of connected capacity, comparable in scale to a nuclear power plant.
Through flexibility programmes run with Axle’s partners, consumers earn around £10 a month on average, with participants reportedly collectively earning millions of pounds last year.
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Zhenya Loginov, Partner at Accel, says: “As AI, electrification and renewable energy accelerate, power systems are becoming more dynamic and more complex. We believe flexibility will become one of the most important layers of the modern energy stack. Karl, Archy, and the Axle team have built an impressive platform that helps energy companies unlock and monetise flexibility from assets that already exists.”
As electrification, data centres and more variable renewable generation reshape power systems, grid operators and energy companies are looking for lower-cost ways to balance supply and demand without relying as heavily on expensive fossil-fuel generation at peak times.
The company says they handle the full value chain, from connecting assets and forecasting availability to aggregating devices, bidding into electricity markets, dispatching assets and settling payments. This allows OEMs, utilities and fleet operators to monetise flexibility without building the market access, software or regulatory infrastructure themselves.
Axle estimates there are 75 million eligible energy assets across Europe and the US, representing around 375 GW of potential capacity. By connecting and coordinating these existing devices, the company can bring new grid capacity online in weeks, rather than the years required to permit, finance and build conventional power infrastructure.
