## BBB invests in Kraken Technologies The UK government-backed British Business Bank (BBB) is investing £25m in Kraken Technologies, the software entity being spun out of Octopus Energy. This marks the bank's largest ever direct investment into a private firm. Octopus Energy sold a $1bn stake in Kraken last month to a syndicate of investors, paving the way for its demerger from Octopus Energy and a possible stock market flotation in the future. Octopus Energy founder and chief executive Greg Jackson told the BBC there was "every chance" Kraken would list its shares "in the medium term", with a potential location "between London and the US". ## Investment Details A press release from the Department for Business & Trade, detailing the £25m investment from the economic development bank, mentioned that Kraken, which has 70m customers, “may list in London” following its split from Octopus Energy. Peter Kyle, the UK business secretary, told the FT that the government investment in Kraken was part of a move to keep it based in the UK. Kraken leverages AI to automate customer service and billing for energy firms, making it easier to manage customer billing, smart meters and home batteries. The investment from the BBB in Kraken, valued at $8.65bn last month, follows last year’s reforms to the BBB, which saw its funding capacity upped from £15.6bn to £25.6bn, which means that it can scale up the direct investment arm of the bank. The BBB is also investing £50 million each into two deep tech funds: Epidarex Capital and IQ Capital.