Smart Energy Finances: Lightyear 0's operator goes bust

This week’s edition of Smart Energy Finances looks at the bankruptcy of solar-panelled EV Lightyear 0’s operating company, Atlas Technologies B.V.

Also on the radar are a successful Series A investment from BMW i -  a subsidiary of BMW founded to design and manufacture plug-in Electric Vehicles (EVs) – in an EV charger solution.

Additionally, AMI provider CrescoNet has consolidated its utility solutions as Scalar launches an energy-as-a-service offering.

Solar EV developer bankrupt

Atlas Technologies B.V., a subsidiary of Atlas Technologies Holdings, an information solutions designer, has announced bankruptcy.

The operating company was responsible for the development of the Lightyear 0 – the world’s first long-range solar-panelled EV - production of which has now been suspended.  

The announcement came on January 26, three days after Lightyear submitted a request to suspend payment proceedings with the company, which was granted by the Dutch Rechtbank Oost-Brabant in ‘s-Hertogenbosch; the court declared Atlas Technologies B.V. bankrupt.

Atlas Technologies Holding B.V., which holds the IP rights, and Lightyear Layer B.V. are not in scope of the suspension of payments proceedings of Atlas Technologies B.V.

Lightyear has stated that due to the necessity of shifting focus from Lightyear 0 to Lightyear 2, the submission of suspension was necessary.

Lightyear 2 opened its wait list earlier this month, signalling its market entry.

CEO and co-founder Lex Hoefsloot commented on the move and their strategy to focus on development of the Lightyear 2: “Unfortunately we had to make this decision. The whole process of developing Lightyear 0 has provided our company many valuable learnings over the past years. We are now redirecting all our energy towards building Lightyear 2 in order to make it available to clients on schedule.

According to Hoefsloot, after launching the waitlist for the Lightyear 2, over 40,000 individual customers subscribed with up to 20,000 pre-orders from fleet owners.

Said Hoefsloot: "We hope to conclude some key investments in the coming weeks in order to scale up to Lightyear 2, an affordable solar electric vehicle available for a wider audience."

Have you read:
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BMW i invests in Ampeco

AMPECO, an EV charging management platform, has raised $16 million in venture capital investment after closing a Series A funding round led by BMW i Ventures.

The funding will be used to drive expansion into North America of the company’s EV charging platform, which aims to enable large-scale public, business, fleet, and residential providers to manage EV chargers at scale.

AMPECO’s solution integrates with smart meters, building management systems and renewable energy sources in the hopes of driving efficiency.

The company has over 120 customers in more than 45 markets, representing over 62,000 charging points.

They have an established foothold in the US and plan to use the funds to expand the engineering and product innovation teams while accelerating their position in North America with on-site local teams as well as in the UK, France and Germany.

In addition to the Silicon Valley-based Series A leader, Launchub Ventures and Cavalry Ventures accompanied angel investors.

BMW i Ventures was also an early investor in Chargepoint and Chargemaster, which has since been acquired by BP.

CrescoNet’s product shift

CrescoNet, which provides public and private LTE/5G standards-based Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for utilities, is consolidating its electric and gas solutions and operations under the Smart Earth Technologies (SET) brand.

CrescoNet acquired SET in July 2021. According to the company, which is based in the US, the decision was based on their findings that the integration of electric, gas and water solutions into a common offering would be best in line with utility needs.

SET offers an integrated meter-to-cash platform to the water utility industry. The system includes solutions for data acquisition, near real-time remote device management and integration with customer information and billing systems.

Vivek Beri, chief executive officer for Smart Earth Technologies, commented: “SET is the right vehicle to provide the groundbreaking solutions in communications, metering, MDM and DERMS to the electric, water and gas industries.

“The CrescoNet and SET teams already work together as a company, but this shift embodies our vision as an organisation to deliver a unified solution designed by the best and brightest in our industry.”

Also of interest:
Utilities lead new data for societal good partnership
How energy suppliers ‘can change the narrative and build trust’

Scalar’s energy as a service programme

Scalar, a US-based environmental company, announced its Energy as a Service financial services programme.

The programme is designed to help businesses institute environmentally-friendly protocols while reducing their overall energy costs.

The Scalar team specializes in energy management and through the energy as a service model, will offer energy-efficient management tools – such as smart meters and LED lighting - to companies aiming to going go green.

"We're able to use our smart metering technologies, and…service packs for energy efficiency to guarantee carbon reduction and provide offsets with warranties," stated Scalar CEO, Hubert Gutsa.

For the latest finance and investment announcements coming out of the energy industry, make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances, our weekly column.

Also, I will be walking the floors at GridTech Connect (6 February) and DISTRIBUTECH (on the 7th and 8th of February) in San Diego, California. Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer, Smart Energy International

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