Breaker hammers, the huge chisels on excavators and mining rigs that smash rock and concrete, run on hydraulics. Lekatech, a Finnish start-up in Kausala in the municipality of Iitti, built one driven by a linear electric motor instead, with no hydraulic oil, to suit battery-electric machines such as Normet's SmartDrive range.
The European Innovation Council granted €1,666,350 towards a €2.41 million project that built three pilot hammers. Normet, a Finnish maker of underground mining machinery, invested during the project and in August 2024 acquired the whole company. In August 2026 the LEKA Toras 35 hammer went into production use on a Helsinki renovation site.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Lekatech Oy, business ID 2911472-2, Kausala (Iitti), Finland
- Registered
- 2018, first as Ukon Techhnologies Oy
- CEO
- Antti Anttila
- Product
- LEKA Toras 35 fully electric breaker hammer
- Owner
- Normet Group, since August 2024
- Markets
- Mining, tunnelling, demolition, construction
- EIC project
- RHINO, 1 Jul 2022 to 30 Jun 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Blended finance
Where Lekatech Stands Today
Lekatech still trades under its own name as a company within the Normet Group. On 28 August 2026 it reported that the construction firm SSA Rakennus had taken a LEKA Toras 35 into production use converting a former school in Haaga, Helsinki, into housing, with "extremely positive" first experiences. Its news page shows trade fairs in 2025 and 2026, membership of the German engineering association VDMA and a control-system development partnership with the software firm Remion. It does not say whether the hammer is sold or rented, or how many are in use.
The Technology: A Hammer Without Hydraulics
A hydraulic breaker needs a pump, hoses and oil. Lekatech's hammer strikes with a linear electric motor, and its impact energy and strike rate can be set electronically, from 300 to 1,500 joules and from 60 to 900 blows a minute. In the EIC project, the company reported "double impact energy" compared with hydraulic equivalents and a noise level of 125 dB, 2 dB lower. In 2024 Normet tested the hammer on its Scamec scaling machine at the Pyhäsalmi research mine, reporting lower energy use.
"Normet enables us to expand and speed up the adoption of the electric hammering technology across industries on a global scale."
Antti Anttila, CEO, Lekatech, August 2024What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
RHINO promised to move mining and construction breaking towards zero emissions. According to the CORDIS results, Lekatech built three electric hammers and ran "three on-site tests, trials, and pilots across Europe" in underground and open-pit mining and construction, logging 1,300 to 1,500 operating hours. It reports 10 patents and a utility model granted, seven new applications filed and 50 invention disclosures, eight new hires, and Normet's investment. It reports no sales.
- Pilot hammers in the fieldDeliveredThree hammers; three pilots.
- A launched productDeliveredLEKA Toras 35, June 2024.
- An industrial backerDeliveredBought by Normet.
- Sales at scaleNot shownOne named site user so far.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Money
Normet, which employs more than 1,800 people and had net sales of €484 million in 2023, became a minority shareholder in January 2023 and bought full ownership on 30 August 2024. The price was not disclosed. The award was blended finance, and we found no record of an EIC Fund stake; if one was taken, its fate in the sale is not public.
What cannot be checked
The acquisition price, whether the EIC took equity and what it received, how many hammers have been delivered, and Lekatech's revenue are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Normet says it aims to "lead the electric transformation" of underground operations, and a hammer without hydraulics fits its battery-electric machines. The EIC funded a Finnish start-up whose technology ended up with a Finnish industrial group, which keeps it in Europe and gives it a sales channel into mines worldwide.
What the project promised
An electric breaker hammer to move mining and construction towards zero emissions.
What the record shows
Three pilots, 10 patents, a launched hammer, a buyer in Normet and first customer use in 2026.
The Verdict
A textbook exit, sales still to show
RHINO did what it promised, and a strategic buyer bought the company two months after it ended. For the EIC, that is a clear path from grant to industry. What the public record still lacks is evidence of volume: two years on, one construction firm is named as a user.
Lekatech has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, EU project data and the Finnish Trade Register, linked throughout.
