Statkraft Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for Norway-based power producer Statkraft, has hired entrepreneur Ammar Alkassar as a venture partner.
Alkassar founded cybersecurity startup Sirrix in 2005 based on his research at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), and sold it to Germany-based peer Rohde and Schwarz in 2015, staying in the CEO position for a further three years while it grew.
Statkraft Ventures focuses on investments in Europe-based companies developing technologies that can disrupt the energy industry, as part of deals with a ticket size of €500,000 to €4m ($580,000 to $4.6m).
Alkassar said: “Statkraft Ventures is well positioned with a highly ambitious team and I am looking forward to adding value to both the team and the portfolio.
“The energy sector is currently undergoing a fundamental change, most often driven by software, particularly artificial intelligence. With manifold chances for new businesses.”
Matthias Dill, managing director at Statkraft Ventures, added: “From the very start, we built Statkraft Ventures on the paradigm of backing the best founders.
“Ammar Alkassar has already accomplished what our portfolio-CEOs are currently working on: building a category leader that impacts an entire sector.”
– Photo courtesy of Statkraft Ventures GmbH.