Energy startup Wattwatchers raises $5.3 million series B

Digital energy platform Wattwatchers has raised $5.3 million in the Series B round.

The round was led by private equity impact investor Kilara Capital’s new Growth Fund, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), doubling down on the startup after backing its series A and initial capital raise in 2017 through its specialist Innovation Fund. The CEFC’s most recent support takes its total investment to $2.5 million.

The Wattwatchers tech solution is designed to maximise renewable energy deployment from residential to industrial use. The startup’s brands include Wattwatchers (hardware and data to the cloud), mydata.energy (a mobile app) and ADEPT (agile IoT platform for managing multi-technology fleets in real-time).

The company has now deployed 50,000 devices commercially in more than 20 countries worldwide, and achieved profitability in FY21. Each device installed saves on average at least 1 tonne of carbon emissions.

Wattwatchers devices play a key role in enabling smart homes and the use of distributed energy resources, with its technology providing the data to enable integration and control of household appliances such as air-conditioning, hot water, solar batteries and EV charging.

CEO Gavin Dietz said the new investment will be used to accelerate international expansion, from team growth to the scale-up of Australian manufacturing and new product development including data services. His goal is doubling, then tripling, current sales to install 50,000-plus devices a year.

“We are positioned to become the absolute leader in energy technology both here in Australia and globally – especially with focused energy incentives in the UK, EU and USA” he said.

“Having energy data helps households to save on electricity costs in multiple ways, and quickly adds up to hundreds of dollars a year. The typical three-bedroom freestanding home can save hundreds of dollars each year just by shifting their energy use and energy waste through the use of data.”

Dietz said nearly a quarter of Australian homes have rooftop solar.

“These homes are in a great position to use data to boost the return on their investment in renewable generation – with savings of $500-$1000 a year through cutting waste, getting on the best plan, and above all optimising electricity use to maximise self-consumption of their own free-from-the-sun electrons,” he said.

“The greatest value from having your own energy data is the optimisation for an all electric future. The ability to leverage demand management programs and incentives as well as optimising home batteries will pretty much make your home a virtual power plant.”

Kilara Capital managing director Ben Krasnostein said the firm was focused on investing in companies that can make a significant scaleable impact in the energy transition.

“Wattwatchers has proved itself as an enduring and growing smart energy company in Australia – and globally. Our investment will take it to the next level as we seek to generate an excellent financial return, but also contribute significantly to the decarbonisation of the electricity grid,” he said.

Innovation Fund executive director Ben Gust said: “The funds raised in this round will support the expansion of the platform into new areas, including smart home integration, certified metering and self-installed solar monitoring. Wattwatchers is continuing to develop innovative solutions to deliver real-time data on energy usage, important work which will further empower Australian households and businesses to manage their energy usage.”