Norwegian seismic player TGS has made its first renewable energy venture investment with the acquisition of an equity stake in NASH Renewables, a start-up developing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for the prospecting, construction and operations of wind energy projects.
Led by former Siemens Gamesa chief digital officer Daniel Luecht, NASH is an artificial intelligence software company established in Germany this year.
TGS acquired a 10% equity stake in the start-up, with an option to increase to 20% subject to pre-defined business milestones.
As a result, TGS is the sole external investor holding a substantial equity stake in the company. The two companies will collaborate to mature joint SaaS solutions.
“Our ambition is to become a global leader in data-driven solutions across the energy value chain. So, we need to explore disruptive technologies and business models and learn from the most innovative entrepreneurs,” said Jan Schoolmeesters , EVP of Digital Energy Solutions at TGS.
“We now have a partnership with a highly experienced founders’ team developing SaaS solutions that could revolutionize how wind energy projects are planned, built and operated. We are very pleased to have made our first venture investment into NASH Renewables.”
According to TGS, with the support of NASH additional cross-platform functionalities can be developed for its insight platform WindAXIOM, which is dedicated to helping offshore wind energy developers and stakeholders evaluate the viability of potential projects by analyzing multiple resource and risk factors.
The company believes that further synergies can be gained by improving the predictive functions of the software platform.
TGS recently fully acquired 4C Offshore , a marketing intelligence and consultancy firm dedicated to the offshore wind sector, and Prediktor , a provider of asset management and real-time data management solutions to renewable and energy asset owners.
The Norwegian firm also made an offer to buy Magseis Fairfield in a deal that values the seismic player at NOK 2.33 billion (approximately $237 million).
The offer period is expected to commence in August.