Gradyent recently raised 28 million euros in a funding round to enable the company to expand globally. SEB Greentech VC joined this oversubscribed financing round, which Swiss global impact investment firm Blue Earth Capital led.
Gradyent’s software helps its customers, mainly district heating companies, reduce costs. Using the software, district heating companies can optimise the energy source and deliver heating timely to households and companies. A positive side effect of optimised operations is reduced heat losses and greenhouse gas emissions.
Grids have become complex
Over time, the grids have become increasingly complex as district heating companies have added flexible and clean assets such as electric boilers, heat pumps and storage facilities utilising various renewable energy sources. As renewables deliver energy in varying quantities and prices, it makes forecasting and optimisation between different energy sources more important than ever.
Gradyent’s software, Digital Twin Platform, works in real-time and creates a digital copy of the customer’s entire heating and cooling grid. It integrates geographical, weather, energy market, and sensor data with physics-based models and artificial intelligence (AI). Using all this data, district heating companies can better plan when to use what energy source and at what price.
“As heating and cooling grids become more integrated, efficiently managing multiple energy sources is crucial,” says Hervé Huisman, CEO & Co-founder of Gradyent.
Huisman says Gradyent is partnering with leading energy companies in over 35 European cities, including Veolia in Poland, Shell in the Netherlands and Helen in Finland. The company is now aiming to expand that number, also outside of Europe.
In addition to addressing district heating, Gradyent is making forays into industrial heating. The company’s technology is well-suited for this application, too. Industrial heating applies, for example, when large factories or plants use heat in their production processes and want to optimise the use and sourcing of that heat.
Good fit for SEB Greentech VC
SEB Greentech VC finds investing in Gradyent a perfect fit, and the bank is not only contributing with financing.
“In SEB, we have strong expertise in the energy field, and most importantly, we are well connected with many of the potential customers in the countries where we do business,” says Mikko Huumo, Investment Manager at SEB Greentech VC.
With Gradyent’s strong track record of delivering rapid savings to its customers, Huumo sees significant potential to help district heating companies reduce emissions and improve profitability.