The Colombian company Bia Energy raises US$18.5 million in a round led by Kaszek, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, RA Capital, EWA Capital and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), among other investors.
With this operation, the company founded by Sebastián Ruales, Leonardo Velázquez and Guillermo Plaza has raised US$40 million since its creation in 2022 and begins a new stage: from being solely a digital energy marketer to operating as a group with three lines of business: marketing, distributed generation and software.
From energy marketer to group of three businesses
Bia’s original business consists of buying energy on the wholesale market and selling it to companies through smart metering, consumption analytics and a platform to monitor and manage energy spending. Currently, the company serves more than 4,000 companies in Colombia and manages around 50 GWh per month.
The new structure also incorporates distributed generation, with small-scale solar projects under an energy community model. Bia seeks to close 2026 with 15 communities of 1 MW each and multiply that figure during 2027, connecting financing, generation and energy buyers.
Olibia: the software that Bia now wants to sell to the world
The third business is Olibia, a spin-off of the software that Bia developed internally to manage its operation. The platform covers processes such as customer acquisition, installations, billing, collection, service and energy trading, incorporating artificial intelligence agents.
The company is already holding conversations with potential clients in Guatemala, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Colombia, and aims to extend the solution to gas and water companies, in addition to electricity. The reference of the model is Kraken, the technological platform that emerged from Octopus Energy, with the ambition of converting a tool developed for internal use into a vertical SaaS business for utilities.
With the new structure, Bia also seeks to rely on non-dilutive debt to finance its growth. The company strengthened lines with BBVA and Santander and has an additional pre-approved line of $40 billion Colombian, while continuing to expand its energy and technology businesses.
