Viotas was founded in 2013 by chief executive Professor Paddy Finn and commercial director Duncan O’Toole.
The Limerick firm leverages its smart grid technology to control the electricity usage of large electricity consumers, increasing and decreasing their consumption in unison to form what is called a virtual power plant.
It then trades these virtual power plants in the electricity market where it competes against conventional fossil fuel power stations, generating revenue for participating customers.
Viotas said the funding facility secured from Claret Capital will enhance its capacity to fuel international growth and develop new services to improve revenue certainty for its customers in complex and often volatile energy markets.
The debt facility has been provided by Claret European Specialty Lending Company IV in Luxembourg. The fund targets investments in tech firms and speciality pharma.
Viotas recently established a foothold in the US. Last November, it launched an office in Houston, Texas, to support the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot) market.
“The expansion requires both technical capability and sustained investment in the systems, teams, and infrastructure needed to operate at scale in a new market,” noted Viotas.
It added that the funding facility will also support progress in existing markets such as Australia, where price volatility can lead to variability in earnings for customers providing grid support.
Today’s News in 90 seconds – 26th May 2025
“Our expansion to date has been predominantly powered by the strength of our business,” said Prof Finn. “This facility provides additional firepower to move even faster—developing new technologies, entering new markets, and supporting customers with more resilient, value-generating services.”
In 2023, state-owned Bord na Móna sold its 50pc stake in Viotas to management and AIB-owned Goodbody Capital Partners, achieving what it said was a “significant return” since it first invested in 2016. AIB, through Goodbody, also provided Viotas with a €5.5m, 10pc unsecured non-convertible loan note.
Viotas Ireland generated revenue of €20.4m in the year to the end of March 2024, the latest financial accounts for the business show. It made a €583,000 operating loss that year.
The figures compared to revenue of €15.5m in the 2023 financial year, when it posted a €1.6m operating loss. It had shareholder funds of €8.5m at the end of March last year.
source