Dutch climate startup Sensorfact has just scored €13 million for its intelligent energy management and energy saving solution. Investment companies FORWARD.one, Korys and SET Ventures are all participating in the funding.
Founded in 2016, Sensorfact has developed an Intelligent Energy Management System (IEMS). With this plug-and-play hardware and software, industrial SMEs can easily access and monitor their energy consumption in detail, reduce it with targeted actions and integrate it into increasingly strict energy reports.
In July last year, the European Commission presented the ‘fit for 55’ package, which aims to achieve a CO2 reduction of 55% in 2030 compared to levels in 1990. As a result, companies have to deal with increasingly strict regulations. Energy prices have also risen sharply in the past year, reaching a record high last December. Tech being offered by Sensorfact is going to prove indispensable in achieving carbon reduction targets and addressing price fluctuations.
Sensorfact CEO Pieter Broekema, commented: “The energy bill is one of the largest costs that companies in the manufacturing industry are facing, especially with current energy prices. In addition, due to the wide interest in climate change, there are an increasing number of European regulations that companies have to comply with. With our technology, companies can kill these two birds with one stone.”
The climate tech startup supplies measuring equipment that can be easily installed by customers, giving insight into data around energy consumption – curial when looking at how to reduce consumption ad comply with regulations. With industry-specific algorithms, Sensorfact’s solution is then able to identify energy savings. This is complemented by energy experts who help with implementation.
Sensorfact already has more than 600 customers in more than 25 countries in Europe: mainly in the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Germany, and currently employs over 70 people. This new funding will be used for further product development and for expansion into the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). An office in Berlin was opened this year to facilitate this growth area.
So far, the Utrecht-based company has achieved savings of around 100 GWh. This is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of more than 30,000 households. But, this is only the beginning, CEO Pieter wants the company “to become the largest service provider in industrial energy management. With over 370,000 European SMEs, the market is huge”.
With regards to product development, the key focus is to increase the choice available to customers. In addition to measuring electricity, gas and water, Sensorfact now also wants to expand to steam and temperature sensors and vibration sensors for predictive maintenance. This will give customers an increasingly comprehensive picture of their energy consumption.
