OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 18, 2025--
Flocean, the Norwegian subsea desalination company recently named as a TIME Best Invention of 2025, today announced it has extended its total Series A funding to $22.5M (NOK 228 million).
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Flocean One Outside Mongstad: Alver Mayor Nina Bognøy with Flocean Founder & CEO Alex Fuglesang and Flocean VP Products and Strategy Nils Halvor Heieren (Photo: Flocean)
The extension adds Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL) as a strategic investor alongside backing from existing investors Burnt Island Ventures, Freebird Capital, Katapult Ocean, Nysnø Climate Investments, and new investors Ari Emanuel, Orion, Rypples and Wellers Impact's Water Unite Impact Fund. The CEO of Asset Buyout Partners (ABP), building on their long-term real estate and infrastructure partnership with Flocean, also participated. Xylem, a leading global water solutions partner, will help scale Flocean’s desalination technology worldwide, addressing the increasing global demand for fresh water from consumers and industrial facilities alike.
Flocean also announced an agreement with Norway’s Alver Municipality to explore offering Flocean’s water to the Municipality’s industrial and consumer customers, and to assess its integration into existing water infrastructure. Flocean has already been desalinating water for 12 months at its test site at Norway’s largest offshore supply base, Mongstad Industrial Park, owned by ABP and located in Alver.
The proceeds of the Series A round will fund the launch and operation of Flocean One—the world's first demonstrator and commercial subsea desalination plant—in 2026 at Mongstad. The funding will also support continued organizational growth and advance large-scale commercial projects across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and island nations.
Conventional Desalination Struggles to Keep Pace with Global Freshwater Demand
Global freshwater demand is rising sharply, driven by climate volatility, population growth, and industrial expansion. But conventional desalination infrastructure struggles to keep pace—constrained by multi-year permitting timelines, massive capital costs, and limited coastal land.
Flocean's subsea approach delivers a fundamentally different economic model. By moving desalination systems 400–600 meters below the water, the technology leverages the natural pressure of the ocean to reduce cost and deployment time:
"We're not making an incremental improvement—we're changing the fundamental economics of water," said Alexander Fuglesang, Founder & CEO of Flocean. "Water-intensive industries from semiconductors to data centers to mining are increasingly constrained by water scarcity. They need solutions that can deploy faster, cost less, and operate more sustainably. That's exactly what subsea desalination delivers."
Flocean operates under a Build-Own-Operate model, selling water as a service to municipal and industrial clients under long-term, bankable offtake agreements spanning 15-25 years. The company has secured initial project agreements in multiple countries, including collaborations with utilities in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean regions.
“Flocean’s subsea desalination technology represents a bold leap forward in how we produce fresh water and address water scarcity -- one of the most urgent challenges of our time,” said Snehal Desai, Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Xylem. “As demand for water accelerates globally, we’re investing in breakthrough technologies that have strong potential to scale. This partnership reflects our commitment to solving water with innovation that empowers our customers and communities to build a more water-secure world.”
Flocean also joins the Xylem Innovation Labs Accelerator, Xylem’s global program to scale breakthrough water technologies through its global reach and expertise.
“We are excited to collaborate with Flocean on testing their groundbreaking water desalination technology,” said Nina Bognøy, Mayor of Alver Municipality. “Our municipality applauds bold efforts like this and we will work as a team to evaluate and consider Flocean’s offering for both local industrial users, as well as the municipal network.”
Flocean One will produce 1,000 cubic meters of freshwater daily when it launches in 2026. The modular design enables systems to scale from 5,000 to 50,000 cubic meters per day, serving municipalities, industrial operations, and agricultural clients in over 90 water-stressed coastal markets globally.
About Flocean
Flocean AS is a Norwegian subsea desalination company transforming how the world produces freshwater. Its patented, modular systems use the natural pressure and consistent water quality at 400–600 meters ocean depth to deliver low-cost, low-carbon drinking water—without toxic brine discharge or coastal infrastructure footprint. Founded in 2024 as a spin-out from FSubsea, Flocean combines three decades of subsea engineering heritage with a mission to deliver climate-resilient water at industrial scale.
For more information, visit www.flocean.green
About Xylem
Xylem (XYL) is a Fortune 500 global water solutions company that empowers customers and communities to build a more water-secure world. Our 23,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $8.6 billion in 2024, optimizing water and resource management with innovation and expertise. Join us at www.xylem.com and Let’s Solve Water.
Flocean Subsea Desalination Plant (Photo: Flocean)
ROME (AP) — Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri and fellow Summer athletes started the torch relay for the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Saturday — marking exactly two months before the Feb. 6 opening ceremony.
Paltrinieri carried the sleek torch around the track of the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi at the Foro Italico to begin a trek covering 12,000 kilometers (nearly 7,500 miles) that will wind its way through all 110 Italian provinces before reaching Milan’s San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony.
“It’s a pleasure to be part of the Olympic movement even if it’s Winter Olympics,” Paltrinieri said.
In all, there will be 10,001 torch bearers.
At the end of the opening day, police said they stopped two groups of pro-Palestinian activists from coming into contact with the relay route.
Giancarlo Peris, the final torch bearer from the 1960 Olympics in Rome, carried the Olympic flame in a lantern to get the proceedings going. The 84-year-old Peris was 18 when he lit the cauldron at the Stadio Olimpico — which is next to the Stadio dei Marmi — more than 65 years ago.
“I didn't think I would be here today,” Peris said with a chuckle.
Paltrinieri won gold in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and has five Olympic medals in all. He and girlfriend Rossella Fiamingo, a fencer, carried Italy's flag at the closing ceremony for last year's Paris Games.
“I used to ski when I was a kid but then I stopped because it’s a little bit dangerous for me,” Paltrinieri said. “Skiing is my favorite (Winter Olympic sport). ... Alberto Tomba was one of my biggest idols.”
Paltrinieri handed off to retired fencer Elisa Di Francisca, who won two golds at the 2012 London Games.
Next was Gianmarco Tamberi, the 2020 Olympic high jump champion.
Also carrying the torch around Rome on Saturday were tennis player Matteo Berrettini, retired NBA player Andrea Bargnani and former motorcycle racer Max Biaggi.
Actor Ricky Tognazzi carried the torch while riding a white Vespa in a scene reminiscent of the 1953 film “Roman Holiday” featuring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
The torch relay, which includes 60 city celebrations, will be in Naples for Christmas and in Bari for New Year’s Eve. It will reach 2006 Olympics host Turin on Jan 11.
The torch will arrive in Verona on Jan. 18 and pass through Cortina d’Ampezzo on Jan. 26 — on the 70th anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 1956 Winter Olympics held at the resort in the Dolomites.
There will also be a cauldron lit in Cortina on the night of the opening ceremony.
Local organizing committee president Giovanni Malagò noted the torch relay will pass by all of the country's UNESCO World Heritage sites, of which Italy has more than any other country with 61.
“It's like a giant two-month advertisement,” Malagò said.
These Games will be held across a large swath of northern Italy and the ceremony will be observed in four different locations, including Livigno (where snowboarding and freestyle skiing will be contested) and Predazzo (ski jumping).
Skating sports will be in Milan; men’s Alpine skiing and ski mountaineering in Bormio; and women’s Alpine skiing, sliding sports and curling in Cortina.
The next stops on the torch relay are Viterbo on Sunday and Terni on Monday.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Former Italian track athlete Giancarlo Peris, 84, left, who was the final bearer of the Olympic torch for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, holds a lantern with the Olympic flame ahead of the start of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch ceremony in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. The journey will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri lights the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian high jumper and Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi, left, receives the flame of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch from Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian high jumper and Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri, left, passes the flame of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch to Italian former foil fencer and Olympic and world champion Elisa Di Francisca in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri lights the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Italian swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri carries the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics torch in Rome as it begins its journey through Italy, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, a journey that will conclude in Milan in February 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
