Sparking the future: Fortum Innovation & Venturing is building the energy ecosystem
8 December 2025 at 14:19 EET
Fortum is powering the future of energy innovation. For years, Fortum has played an active role in the energy ecosystem - building partnerships, investing in startups, and driving solutions for a cleaner world. Since 2020, our venture investments have operated under the Valkea Growth Club brand. Today, these activities are fully integrated under the Fortum brand as part of Fortum Innovation & Venturing, reinforcing our commitment to co-create impactful solutions with customers, startups, co-investors, and other ecosystem partners.
This year, we launched the Spark Innovation Challenge, a venture client competition designed for growth companies across Europe. The challenge offers startups the opportunity to scale up with Fortum and become part of our evolving energy ecosystem.
At Slush, we hosted a side-event, Sparking the Future of Energy, where five outstanding finalists—Hylosense, Arqe, Rotomate, Companion.energy, and Qheat—pitched their solutions. After an inspiring showcase, Hylosense, a precision weather forecasting application, emerged as the winner. This victory marks the beginning of a pilot project with Fortum, igniting new possibilities for smarter energy operations.
The event also featured a thought-provoking fireside chat, Powering Tomorrow: AI & the Energy Revolution, with VC investors Scott Tierney (Valo Ventures) and Yoachim Haynes (Energy Impact Partners), and Co-Founder Johan Frisell (Fifty Energy). AI is accelerating both energy demand and energy innovations — it is opening new possibilities for smarter operations and new offerings. And the path forward is clear: bigger impact comes when startups, investors, and corporates build together.
If you are ready to collaborate and shape the future of energy with us, please reach out at innovation