Stockholm, 18/10/2023 – Altor Funds (“Altor”) have acquired a minority stake in Aira (the “Company”) through its Series B equity financing round. Other key investors in the financing round are Collab Fund, Creades, Kinnevik and Lingotto. Over Altor’s 20 years, partnering in large industrial transformations as well as scaling companies internationally have been at the core of value creation. Aira fits perfectly next to Altor’s increasingly broad base of investments in green transition.
Aira was established in 2022 by Vargas Holding to accelerate the electrification of residential heating in Europe. In Europe, Aira’s core market, residential heating is to >90% fossil fuel-based. Residential oil and gas boilers are thus responsible for 10% of CO2 emissions in the region. Decarbonization of residential heating will require a switch at large scale to heat pumps, which is the most efficient and affordable technology, reducing home energy consumption with some 75%.
Aira is to manufacture, sell and install heat pumps at scale, through a vertically integrated business model and a direct-to-consumer offering. Aira is set to expand into adjacent products through partnerships and additional markets with “heating as a service“.
“We are pleased to welcome Altor as a new investor: their track-record of scaling green transition companies internationally is impressive. It is great to have them onboard as a partner as our mission is to drive the green transition and take European households off gas. The funding secured is a key milestone for Aira on our journey to serve five million European households with clean energy-tech solutions. With this investment we will further expand our European presence and accelerate our product and tech development to become a leading direct-to-consumer brand.” says Martin Lewerth, CEO, Aira.
“We are excited to accelerate one of the main decarbonization themes in Europe by supporting Aira on their mission to disrupt residential heating at scale. Building on our track record of investments in green transition opportunities, including Svea Solar, OX2 and H2 Green Steel, we believe we can be a strong partner on Aira’s growth journey.” says Clara Zverina, Principal at Altor.
Paal Weberg, Co-Managing Partner at Altor, continues “We are very impressed by what the management team have achieved in a record period of time, and look forward to working together with them to completely rethink residential heating.”
