UK venture capital fund the Clean Growth Fund has led a funding round that secured £4.5 million for startup technology company Measurable.energy. The company designs and manufactures smart, machine learning-enabled power sockets that it says reduces the energy costs of commercial buildings by more than 20%.
Clean Growth Fund (CGF) invested £2.5M in the company, alongside a suite of other investors, including Vectr7 Investment Partners LLP, RO Capital Partners (ROCP), and MMC Ventures. They join existing investor Bonheur ASA, the Norwegian-listed holding company for the Fred Olsen family, which has significant interests in the renewable energy and shipping sectors.
Founded in 2018, Measurable.energy aims to eliminate waste energy that is not required by devices that are plugged in or directly wired. It says that devices such as printers, AV equipment, chilled or hot water taps, monitors or heaters are often left fully on or in standby mode overnight or when an office is not in use. It believes up to 40% of total electricity usage in most commercial office buildings can be attributed to this type of energy use.
Measurable.energy’s smart sockets automatically identify a device that is plugged in, monitor its energy use, report granular real-time data and can automatically turn the device off until the supply is greener. The socket’s lighting system indicates the carbon intensity of the electricity grid to help people choose when to use it.
This year the company has sold its sockets and energy management system to organisations including Kier Group, University of Reading, Stantec and Reading Borough Council.
Dan Williams, CEO and co-founder of measurable.energy said: “Our solution can pay back financially within two years and allows business customers to reduce their electricity bills by at least 20%.
“With the welcome support of Clean Growth Fund, and our other new investors, we are in a stronger position to accelerate our commercial sales in the UK and global markets, as well as plan our entry into the residential market.”
Jonathan Tudor, Investment Partner at Clean Growth Fund: “The combination of measurable.energy’s hardware and machine-learning is delivering spectacular results – energy saving, carbon saving and commercial sales. Dan, Josh and their team are exceeding their own expectations for demand for their products and we share their excitement for the future. With office occupiers needing to cut energy costs and become more sustainable, the purchase of a measurable.energy product is an easy one for facilities managers, building owners and occupants to make.”
Edward Rowlandson, Group Managing Director of RO, said: “We own a diversified portfolio of commercial properties and as a landlord, measurable.energy’s solution was immediately attractive to us. Initially as an early customer of the business, we are now delighted to have invested in measurable.energy, for two important reasons: firstly, we are all facing alarmingly high costs of energy, and secondly we are acutely aware of the need to reduce energy use from an environmental perspective. measurable.energy’s solution is a step in the right direction on both of these fronts.
“Given these twin factors we are very excited about the prospects for the business and look forward to working with Dan and his team, to both use and help market the product more widely.”