New investors to enter Czech energy innovator Nano Energies

In addition to the new investors, both of the firm’s current shareholders, Petr Rokusek and Tomas Janecek, have increased their capital investment in Nano Energies by a factor of tens of millions of Czech crowns.

“I am very glad we were able to find two incredible investors in a very short time –  not even the coronavirus crisis stopped us. Petr Nemec and Petr Zahradnik both share our vision and that of our company as well as our general human philosophy,” said Nano Energies founder Petr Rokusek. “Nano Energies has been building up its know-how and team for more than 11 years while preparing for this moment  We are now able to switch gears rapidly, take on  new team members and expand to new markets that are going through energy digitalisation and transformation processes similar to the Czech Republic and are thus in  need of energy flexibility experts. We also want to focus on new tech development and build AI-based solutions that will bring us closer to our vision, which is decentralized energy systems and energy sharing.” 

Nano Energies started talks with potential investors at the beginning of 2020. The negotiations were closed this week. The transaction must still be approved by the country’s antitrust authorities.

Funds obtained from new investors will be used for the development of new technologies that will allow flexible and smart management of large industry players’ and households’ energy production and consumption. In the long term these solutions will ease the way towards a  decentralized energy system. The new capital will also help Nano Energies’ spot energy trading division expand to CEE markets.

“Innovation, quality and authenticity are values ​​that connect me with Nano Energies. I was also convinced by the tech quality behind their solutions. We plan to systematically invest in the development of existing platforms, people and R&D, so that  in the long run we can deliver additional quality to the energy sector and thus also to our lives and the environment we all live in,” explained new investor and entrepreneur Petr Nemec.

“I am excited about the upcoming opportunity to work with the great Nano Energies team and the chance to spend time reflecting on logic-based problems  and questions related to the extremely complex universe around the grid. I enjoy working with large volumes of data in which one can find descriptive images and algorithmic solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. I have always wanted to co-create huge added value in Prague, and Nano Energies fits perfectly with this goal. The fact that abstract imaging can be complemented by the sense of a job well done for a better environment made an investment offer essentially irresistible to me,” commented Petr Zahradnik.

The founder of Nano Energies, Petr Rokusek, remains the firm’s largest shareholder with a 37.5% stake. Entrepreneur and investor Tomas Janecek, who entered the company in 2013, holds 25%.

“With these two new investors Nano Energies gains not only financial resources and power, but more importantly human capital in terms of  these two experienced and respected businessmen. I really look forward to working together,” said Nano Energies shareholder and entrepreneur Tomas Janecek.

The investment transaction was advised by legal teams at Badokh and at Mavericks.

––

Petr Nemec co-founded the pharmaceutical company Swixx Biopharma in 2014. Since 2012, he has also been a partner and investor in real estate developer SEBRE, which developed office building complexes such as Drn and Spork Palace in Prague as well as other innovative projects ranging from blockchain use to original pub concepts. He has previously worked with White & Case NY, ConvaTec Limited and Bristol-Myers Squibb. In 2000, Nemec co-founded PharmaSwiss SA, which he also managed until 2010. Nemec graduated with a law degree from Charles University in Prague in 1984.

Petr Zahradnik and his business partners did not want to leave the Czech Republic after their graduation from university and felt the need to apply scientific knowledge and develop ingenious smart solutions to seemingly incomprehensible problems from Prague. So, they founded Qminers, headed by Zahradnik, focused on algorithmic trading software development. The company is also active in the field of image recognition and natural language processing. Zahradnik graduated from  the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University in Prague with a degree in econometrics in 2010.