The Berlin-based renewable energy supplier trawa, which simplifies energy purchasing and management for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) through its AI solution, secured a €10 million seed round, led by Balderton Capital. German climate tech investor AENU also participated in the round, alongside previous investors Speedinvest, Magnetic and TinyVC.
The funding will be used to expand trawa’s AI technology and build out its ecosystem of solutions to help customers transform the way they purchase and consume energy. The latest capital raise brings trawa’s total raised to more than €12 million.
Europe’s ongoing energy crisis has seen electricity prices typically two to three times higher than the US, which has had a knock-on impact on industry. Manufacturing in the Eurozone has been in decline for two years, with demand further worsening in April. German industry has been particularly impacted, with production expected to decline by 1.5%. Large energy price fluctuations that make long term planning more difficult have forced the sector to scale back production. Increasingly, companies want to switch to green energy sources but are deterred by the complexity, possible issues around security of supply and a lack of trust in what is badged as ‘green energy’. trawa was founded to give SMEs confidence in making the change and to regain control over their power purchasing, with technology that makes green solutions affordable.
trawa co-founder and CEO David Budde commented: “Businesses face an immense challenge in navigating a volatile energy market. trawa uses its technology to help small and medium-sized companies secure not only more affordable, but also renewable energy. This financing will enable trawa to further build out our ecosystem platform to supply businesses with a solution that automatically manages and optimizes their energy costs, consumption and emissions.”
Modern energy procurement and infrastructure is complicated for SMEs who are usually unable to navigate the complex and volatile energy markets. Instead they typically buy electricity at a fixed rate, which is on average 20% more expensive than structured procurement. Energy markets changed overnight when war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis and soaring costs across Europe and in Germany in particular. trawa is offering SMEs a new solution that takes away the headache of having to compare constantly changing electricity prices, secure energy contracts, manage renewable power sources and more on top of their core operations.
Founded in 2022, trawa gives SMEs, which generally do not have specialist procurement expertise in energy, tools to structure their energy purchasing. trawa’s AI can create an optimal combination of power from different products to match the buyer’s individual consumption patterns. In this way, trawa can procure electricity in installments at staggered times, yielding significant cost savings.
As well as improving energy procurement, trawa’s management software allows companies to optimise how and when they consume electricity. It gives SMEs a real-time overview of their energy consumption, generation and cost data and even allows them to automatically shift consumption to times of the day when electricity prices are lower. This is especially important because more and more companies are investing in modern energy assets, such as rooftop solar systems or batteries that trawa can optimize. The combination of AI-powered purchasing and management software means companies can make annual savings on their energy costs of up to 30%.
trawa’s partners include some of Germany’s largest suppliers and smaller energy providers such as farmers with solar and wind farms. This means all energy purchased through trawa is clearly traceable for sustainability reporting purposes. Using these providers, trawa is working with a growing number of commercial and industrial customers in the DACH region, including the traditional textile manufacturer SETEX-Textil, the Amano Hotel Group, solar energy company Sunmaxx, logistics company Loxxess, and the automotive supplier Coroplast Group, to maximize their cost savings and secure their energy supply amidst a volatile market.
James Wise, General Partner at Balderton, said: “In the face of the climate crisis and volatile energy pricing market, renewable energy is a way for companies to take control of their energy security. trawa offers companies a bespoke solution for energy procurement, shielding SMEs from price explosions, helping them make the most of investments in assets like smart batteries and solar power and providing granular data for ESG reporting. We’re excited to be working with David, Max and Robert, who have built a fast-growing business, addressing a pressing challenge faced by SMEs today.”
Philip Specht, Partner at AENU, added: “Cost and sustainability targets are influencing the energy procurement process of European companies. Trawa is uniquely positioned to serve both targets and become the one-stop-shop for SMEs’ green energy needs, from securing renewable electricity to managing consumption and distributed energy resources.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/05/berlin-based-cleantech-trawa-raises-e10-million-to-cut-sme-energy-costs-and-emissions/
