Landshut/Munich — Bayern Kapital, one of the most experienced and active investors in the German high-tech financing landscape, is investing in tado°. The Munich-based scale-up is the European market leader for intelligent indoor climate management and develops energy-efficient thermostats to optimize energy consumption in residential buildings. The invested funds come from the ScaleUp-Fonds Bayern, the largest of the investment funds managed by Bayern Kapital. Other investors in the financing round with a total volume of EUR 43 million include Kiko Ventures, Swisscanto and Trill Impact Ventures as lead investor; previous investors, including Noventic and Target Partners, among others, also participated in the round.
With energy prices rising across Europe, households are increasingly looking for ways to reduce high energy costs. An effective method for cost reduction and energy saving is promised by the efficient services and products of tado GmbH. Since its founding in 2011, the Munich-based company has been developing consumer-friendly and energy-efficient thermostats that are compatible with over 95% of all households in Europe across manufacturers and can be installed by consumers themselves. The energy-saving features reduce customers’ heating costs by an average of 22%. By combining smart thermostats with time-variable energy rates, a home’s energy use can be shifted to times when energy prices are low. To accelerate its market entry in this area, tado° recently acquired aWATTar, a pioneer in energy load shifting and time-variable energy offers. Together, the two companies are now planning to significantly expand their bundled offering to reduce costs and CO2 emissions for customers.
tado° sold around three million smart thermostats by the end of 2022 and doubled its business with smart thermostats and service offerings in 2022. The step into profitability is now to follow in 2023. In order to reach even more households, tado° is planning to work more closely with housing associations that manage a large number of apartments for this purpose. A new, adapted product line is to be launched for this market segment this year.
Christian Deilmann, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at tado°, comments, “As the market leader in smart indoor climate management, now is the right time to bring our unique energy management offerings to the mass market. We look forward to strong partnerships with the new investors.”
“With tado°, we have invested in a company that makes the problem of high energy consumption in residential buildings, especially through heating and cooling, more efficient and addresses it with a sustainable and cost-saving approach,” explains Monika Steger (photo © Bayern Kapital), Managing Director of Bayern Kapital. “The strong revenue growth of the past years proves that with the closed financing round, tado° has the tools to become one of the world’s leading players for intelligent indoor climate management. We look forward to supporting the company in its further expansion plans.”
Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger says: “Especially in times of crisis, we need innovative ideas. tado° has its finger on the pulse with its energy-efficient thermostats. We therefore support such ambitious high-tech companies with our ScaleUp Fund Bavaria. We thus help you as a co-investment partner to realize large financing rounds in particularly capital-intensive expansion phases.”
The ScaleUp Fund Bavaria was initiated by the Bavarian state government in July 2021 and has since been managed by Bayern Kapital GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of LfA Förderbank Bayern. A prerequisite for participation by the ScaleUp Fund Bavaria is a demonstrably successful, scalable business model based on an innovative technology, ideally secured by property rights, with sustainable unique selling points and clear competitive advantages. Like all funds managed by Bayern Kapital, ScaleUp-Fonds Bayern never invests in competition, but exclusively in close cooperation and always on equal terms with private investors.
About tado°
tado° is the European market leader for intelligent indoor climate management. As the only cross-manufacturer platform, tado°’s Smart Thermostats and Services are compatible with any type of heating or cooling system. Customers benefit from energy-saving technologies such as geofencing and window-open detection and variable-time rates. tado° was founded in 2011 and has its company headquarters in Munich. With 180 employees, tado° is revolutionizing the way energy is used at home, for more comfort, efficiency and in harmony with nature. www.tado.de
About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital GmbH, based in Landshut, is the venture/growth capital company of the Free State of Bavaria. It accompanies innovative high-tech companies in the Free State through various growth phases, from seed to later stage, with equity capital in the amount of 0.25 to 25 million euros. Bayern Kapital often fills gaps in the VC sector in proven consortium constellations with private investors (business angels, family offices and corporate ventures).
Bayern Kapital manages specialized investment funds with a volume of around 700 million euros. Since its foundation in 1995 on the initiative of the state government, the wholly owned subsidiary of LfA Förderbank Bayern has so far invested around 400 million euros of its own equity capital in around 300 start-ups and scale-ups in sectors such as life sciences, software & IT, materials & new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology. As a result, more than 8,000 jobs have been permanently created in Bavaria in sustainable companies. The active portfolio currently comprises over 80 companies.
Examples of numerous groundbreaking success stories that Bayern Kapital has been involved in early on include EOS (today the world’s leading technology provider in industrial 3D printing of metals and plastics), Proglove, Fazua, SimScale, Scompler, egym, Parcellab, Cobrainer, Quantum Systems, Casavi, Theva, Riskmethods, Tubulis, Catalym, Immunic, Sirion and many more.
www.bayernkapital.de