Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management has bought a $600 million stake in the UK’s Octopus Energy, a supplier of green electricity.
Generation’s Long-Term Equity fund will own a 13 per cent stake, boosting Octopus’s valuation to $4.6 billion, the utility said in a statement on Monday. Octopus plans to use the capital to “turbo boost” its renewable-energy business.
The investment means the private company is now valued at £3.3bn - £300m more than Centrica. Centrica's stock market value has declined by almost three quarters in the six years since Octopus was founded by Greg Jackson, who remains chief executive.
The announcement comes days after Octopus was appointed by national energy regulator Ofgem to take on the 580,000 customers of failed supplier Avro Energy.
Seven utility firms have collapsed since the start of August, squeezed by an unprecedented increase in wholesale prices. The investment will help Octopus bear the costs of taking on those customers, with Ofgem’s supplier-of-last-resort process also contributing.
“While the UK energy market is currently in a tough state, it’s highlighted the need for investment in renewables and technologies to end our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Mr Jackson.
The investment will help Octopus in its work to develop cheaper, less-polluting heat pumps and to make the grid use renewable supplies more efficiently, the utility said. The deal had been in the making for several months, before the current crisis started.
In March, Octopus acquired a 2.8-gigawatt portfolio of renewables assets across Europe worth £3bn ($4.1bn), aligning its business with larger international suppliers such as EON SE and Electricite de France SA that combine renewable generation with customer supply.
Octopus has become the fifth-biggest supplier in Britain since its launch and it also has customers in the US, Germany, Spain and New Zealand. The utility has also developed a network of 100,000 electric-vehicle chargers in the UK.
The deal with Mr Gore’s firm consists of a $300m immediate investment, with $300m to follow by June 2022, subject to “certain further funding conditions".
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Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
England's lowest Test innings
- 45 v Australia in Sydney, January 28, 1887
- 46 v West Indies in Port of Spain, March 25, 1994
- 51 v West Indies in Kingston, February 4, 2009
- 52 v Australia at The Oval, August 14, 1948
- 53 v Australia at Lord's, July 16, 1888
- 58 v New Zealand in Auckland, March 22, 2018
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Biography
Favourite Meal: Chicken Caesar salad
Hobbies: Travelling, going to the gym
Inspiration: Father, who was a captain in the UAE army
Favourite read: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
Favourite film: The Founder, about the establishment of McDonald's