GreenCom Networks AG, which R&D center is based in Sophia Antipolis, announced the conclusion of its latest financing round of €12 million, led by Shell Ventures and supported by Energy & Environment Investment (“EEI”) and existing investors.
The investment enables GreenCom to expand its strategy of international growth and to further enhance its pioneering position as the leading residential energy IoT company in Europe.
Shell Ventures, Shell’s corporate venture capital arm, and Japanese venture capital firm EEI have joined existing investors such as Centrica, E.ON’s Future Energy Ventures, Munich Venture Partners and SET Ventures to further advance GreenCom’s state-of-the-art technology solutions to digitally connect distributed assets and provide a leading IoT platform for home energy management.
Among others, GreenCom’s platform is able to connect, control and optimise home energy devices such as solar PV systems, battery storage units, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers, across a range of different models and manufacturers.
Based on its highly scalable and secure software technology, GreenCom enables its customers to use new customer-centric service models such as heating as a service, flexibility revenue, energy flat rates, dynamic tariffs, home energy management or energy communities.
Through GreenCom, end users can easily and conveniently manage their energy use, optimise costs and share energy with their communities through one single platform.
GreenCom is already partnering with various companies to offer new services in a digital energy world, such as Centrica. For the UK utility giant, GreenCom is powering the Home Energy Management platform to its UK customers. In addition, GreenCom is connecting and managing over 3 MW of decentralised energy asset capacity for a smart city district in Cologne containing nearly 700 apartments. For its customer RheinEnergie, GreenCom connects assets such as solar PV, battery storages, heat pumps, heating blades, storage tanks as well as district heating and optimises energy flows.
The new funding from Shell, EEI and existing investors will be used to enhance GreenCom’s energy IoT leadership position in Europe, while also leveraging its new investors to penetrate markets outside Europe and connect GreenCom with new heat pump, inverter, and battery storage manufacturers in Asia.
“We have been very impressed by the quality of the technology platform and the management team at GreenCom,” says Jurgen Hornman, Investment Director at Shell Ventures. “GreenCom’s ability to connect, provide insights into, and control distributed energy assets such as solar PV, battery storage, EV chargers and heating devices of various manufacturers greatly enhances a service provider’s ability to offer integrated home energy solutions to end consumers, energy communities and a fast-growing group of prosumers. Christian and the team have also found innovative routes to market through large-scale partnerships. We look forward to supporting GreenCom in its rapid scaling and internationalisation journey.”
Shuichiro Kawamura, founder and CEO of Energy & Environment Investment, says: “GreenCom provides the platform for the much-needed energy systems for the coming decade. Their products enable various types of distributed assets in a smart way by connecting and coordinating with other assets through their cloud. We look forward to connecting GreenCom with our network partners in Japan, such as large utilities or operators and manufacturers of heat pumps, inverters, and battery storage devices. We are excited to join one of the most advanced technology companies enabling energy system transition.”
Christian Feisst, CEO of GreenCom Networks, notes: “With Shell Ventures and EEI we’ve found two excellent new investors towards the future: Shell provides extensive experience in the distributed energy industry with a track record of impactful investments. EEI, as the only venture capital company in Japan focused on the cleantech sector, adds a strong gateway to, and profound knowledge of the energy and distributed asset manufacturer landscape in Japan, one of the fastest liberalising and “greening” power markets in the world.”
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About GreenCom Networks
GreenCom Networks is a leading energy IoT company, with offices in Munich, Germany, and Sophia-Antipolis, France. Since 2011, GreenCom has been developing the energy system of the future. Using its energy information brokerage platform (eibp), GreenCom integrates distributed assets such as solar PV systems, battery storage units, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps. Based on its leading platform, GreenCom enables white-label end customers services such as energy communities and energy flat rates. GreenCom also offers optimisation and visualisation of energy flows in homes, to utilities and manufacturers of energy-relevant devices.
About Shell Ventures
Shell Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”). With major offices in Europe, the USA, India and China, Shell Ventures invests in innovative technology companies, business models and growth plays to further the development of energy solutions and new technologies that have the potential to create substantial deployment value in Shell. Continuing Shell’s tradition in venture capital since 1996, Shell Ventures focuses on investments within renewable power systems (including solar, wind, connected energy and storage), new fuels for transport (including hydrogen and biofuels), mobility solutions (including e-mobility, connected mobility and freight), oil and gas technologies (including chemicals), and digital innovations where relevant to energy. Shell Ventures co-invests with other corporate investors and venture capital funds and will invest in both early stage and late stage (growth capital) companies.
About EEI
Energy & Environment Investment, Inc. (“EEI”) was established in 2006 as the only venture capital firm focusing on the environment and energy sectors in Japan. Since its establishment, EEI has been actively investing and supporting the business growth of start-ups in the environment and energy-related services and technologies sectors. EEI contributes to innovation and business creation in the environment and energy sectors and promotes the success of start-ups that will have significant global impact toward the realisation of a sustainable economy, environment and society.
