- The company plans to use the fresh funds to scale operations, invest in R&D and upgrade office locations
- 75F claims its smart building solution reduces energy costs by 30 to 50 percent
- The company is currently recruiting for various profiles in both the U.S. and APAC.
75F, a US and India-based startup in the energy-efficient, IoT powered wireless building automation space for commercial buildings, on Wednesday announced it has raised $18 million in Series A funding co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Oil and Gas Climate Initiative.
This is claimed to be the largest investment to date in the energy-efficiency technology category in the Asia Pacific region.
The round also saw participation from Building Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Clean Energy Trust. The company, founded in 2012, has raised a total of $25M to date.
This also marks the first investment for Oil & Gas Climate Initiative in the buildings space.
Funds from this round will be used to scale support and operations, invest in R&D, upgrade office locations in both the Twin Cities and Bangalore, India, and open additional satellite office locations – as per a company statement.
75F CEO Deepinder Singh said, “This strategic funding will allow 75F to invest in key positions, continue to innovate our product and customer solution, and strengthen our partner network across North America, the Middle East, and APAC including India, Singapore, China, and Australia.”
The company is currently recruiting for sales, software engineers and product engineers as well as service, support and supply chain associates in both the U.S. and APAC.
APAC – key part of 75F’s global road map
The Asia-Pacific region is a key part of 75F’s global road map, according to Gaurav Burman, VP & APAC President, 75F.
He elaborated, “It represents a unique opportunity given the high economic growth, increasing energy costs and the rising demand for cooling in warm climate regions. We have been gaining ground in this market, growing at triple-digits year on year, and see promise for continued growth in an addressable market of $10 Bn.”
“We are targeting success in various directions such as expanding to new countries, addressing new customer segments, developing new products and a new platform, and we look forward to delivering better services to our existing clients. APAC is also home to our R&D hub, the center for our supply chain operations.
“The capital infusion will help us strengthen our operations, build on our technological differentiation, and accelerate the pace of our pan-APAC expansion,” he added.
The aim is to reduce energy use, improves comfort and operational efficiency
Energy use in buildings is a $400bn to $500bn a year problem. Developing countries in Asia account for two-thirds of global energy growth, driving the growth of energy-efficient smart building technology in this market.
75F claims its intuitive, self-optimizing system saves up to 50 percent on HVAC and lighting energy, besides improving occupant comfort and operational efficiency.
Traditional building controls systems are overbuilt and require extensive resources to install, setup, custom program and maintain which creates high costs of acquisition and ownership. 75F claims its system reduces install time, makes occupants more productive and comfortable, while cutting costs for facility managers.
75F offers a vertically-integrated smart building solution that includes wireless sensors, equipment controllers and cloud-based software, delivering predictive, proactive building automation right out-of-the-box, the a company statement said.
The reason behind the investors’ choice of 75F
Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) invests in companies that leverage innovative technologies to help address climate change. Backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, BEV has more than $1 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. The fund was created in 2016 by the Breakthrough Energy Coalition.
“Six percent of global and 12 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere come from buildings,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
“We know we can combat this by designing the next generation of buildings, but we can also make significant gains by upgrading existing real estate with smart technology. 75F has created a unique software and hardware solution powered by machine learning that reduces energy costs and emissions at the same time,” Roberts added.
Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) is a $1+ billion fund investing in technologies and business models which lower the carbon footprint of the energy and industrial sectors and their value chains. The fund was created by the CEOs of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative to take practical action on climate change.
OCGI invests in innovative companies with late-stage technologies and business models that can lower the carbon footprint of the energy and industrial sectors. They actively support these companies in achieving commercial success by using the expertise and resources of their OGCI member companies and broader network.
Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, said: “Reducing emissions across all sectors is crucial to meeting our climate goals. 75F’s innovative smart building solution is easy to install, provides savings for building operators and cuts energy loss from buildings. These types of scalable technologies are needed if we want global adoption that can make a significant impact on carbon.”
