🇳🇴 Global Water Tech Leader Xylem to Help Scale Flocean’s Desalination Solutions; Series A Funding Extended to $22.5M

Norwegian subsea desalination company Flocean has extended its Series A funding round to USD 22.5 million (approximately NOK 228 million and ISK 2.85 billion) to launch what it describes as the world’s first commercial subsea desalination plant and scale projects in water-stressed coastal markets.

Flocean, which was recently named a TIME Best Invention of 2025, said the extended round adds global water technology company Xylem Inc. as a strategic investor alongside existing backers Burnt Island Ventures, Freebird Capital, Katapult Ocean and Nysnø Climate Investments, as well as new investors including Ari Emanuel, Orion, Rypples and Wellers Impact’s Water Unite Impact Fund.

The company operates a test site at Norway’s largest offshore supply base, Mongstad Industrial Park in Alver, where it has already been desalinating water for 12 months. Under an agreement with Alver Municipality, Flocean will explore supplying desalinated water to local industrial and municipal customers and assess how its systems can integrate with existing water infrastructure.

Proceeds from the round will fund the launch and operation of “Flocean One” at Mongstad in 2026. The demonstrator plant is designed to produce 1,000 cubic meters of freshwater per day, with a modular configuration that the company says can be scaled to serve municipal, industrial and agricultural users in more than 90 water-stressed coastal markets.

Flocean’s systems are deployed 400–600 meters below the ocean surface, using natural pressure at depth to lower energy requirements and reduce the need for coastal land-based infrastructure. The company says its subsea approach can reduce capital cost per unit of capacity by a factor of 7–8 compared with conventional shore-based seawater reverse osmosis plants, cut energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions by around 50 percent, and reduce coastal land use by about 95 percent while eliminating toxic brine discharge near sensitive habitats.

The company aims to provide water under long-term, bankable offtake agreements using a build-own-operate model, targeting water-intensive sectors such as semiconductors, data centers and mining that face growing constraints on freshwater availability.

Alexander Fuglesang, Founder & CEO of Flocean, said: “We’re not making an incremental improvement—we’re changing the fundamental economics of water.”

Flocean will also join the Xylem Innovation Labs Accelerator, a program that supports the scaling of emerging water technologies through Xylem’s global customer network and sector expertise.

Flocean AS is a Norwegian subsea desalination company whose patented modular systems use natural pressure and stable water quality at depth to deliver low-cost, low-carbon freshwater without toxic brine discharge or a large coastal footprint.