KUGU sichert sich 8,5 Millionen Euro für die Dekarbonisierung der Immobilienbranche
KUGU Home GmbH successfully concludes a Series A financing round with Tengelmann Ventures and Gewobag ID
Berlin, November 12, 2024 — The Berlin-based PropTech company KUGU, led by the two managing directors Christopher von Gumppenberg and Niko Mikac, is starting the important fourth quarter with the successful conclusion of a Series A financing round of 8.5 million euros. Tengelmann Ventures, Gewobag ID and industry experts Michael Lowak (former CEO Germany G+E GETEC Holding GmbH) and Axel Müller (former Member of the Management Board QUNDIS GmbH) were recruited as new investors and shareholders. The latter two have been actively supporting KUGU as advisory board members since last year.
As a strong sign of trust and successful partnership, the existing shareholders have also once again invested, including Wecken & Cie., IBB Ventures and Future Energy Ventures. The new funds will be used to further develop the digital product portfolio and to expand sales and operations.
Energy-efficient change as a task
KUGU's digital decarbonization solutions help real estate companies achieve their emissions targets. As an intelligent extension of the digital boiler room, the products control the operation of the energy systems through optimization and real-time monitoring of system parameters in order to reduce CO2-demonstrably reduce emissions and energy consumption by up to 30%. The highly efficient solution is based on a proprietary technology platform and is fully deployable.
The PropTech company already manages over 12,000 buildings on its platform and was able to save 25 million kWh of energy last year, which corresponds to the average annual consumption of around 7,000 households in Germany. More than 60 companies are already using KUGU for sustainable efficiency and smart solutions, including large housing companies as well as public utilities and leading measurement service providers throughout Germany.
Voices of a successful collaboration
“Thanks to continuous expansion of the product portfolio and extensive experience with major housing associations, KUGU is an important innovative leader for digital energy solutions in the real estate sector,” says Alexander Greis, investment manager at Tengelmann Ventures. “We are looking forward to being able to support the team on their future growth path through our expertise in retail and commercial real estate.” With Gewobag ID, KUGU is also gaining a strong partner in the housing industry: “We see KUGU as a long-term partner who brings impressive expertise and agility to actively promote the decarbonization of the real estate industry with smart digital solutions,” describes Sven Harke-Kajuth, CEO of Gewobag, ID future cooperation. “KUGU's innovative approach addresses challenges in the real estate sector and enables scalable solutions. From my many years of experience in the energy and real estate industries, I know how urgently these digital products are needed for decarbonization,” says Michael Lowak, explaining his support for the PropTech company.
Strongly positioned for the next phase of growth
“The successful completion of this investment round enables us to further expand our dedicated team — together we want to achieve ambitious growth goals,” comments co-founder and managing director Christopher von Gumppenberg. “Understanding and using the energy data generated in every building was the basic idea of KUGU, which is now developing its great potential with our decarbonization solutions in the area of digital boiler rooms. We are very proud to see our innovative solutions being used live by more and more customers in the future. ”
“With this investment, we can expand our successful development and plan to optimize around 50,000 buildings on our platform in the near future,” adds managing director Niko Mikac. “In the real estate industry, this amounts to over 100,000 tons of CO per year2-Save emissions. The next important milestone on our journey is KUGU's profitability. We would like to thank all existing and new investors whose trust and ongoing support have made KUGU's successful journey possible in the first place. ”
About investors and shareholders:
Tengelmann Ventures
Tengelmann Ventures invests in B2C and B2B companies with future-oriented products and services, disruptive business models and innovative technologies. By investing 1 to 15 million euros in various phases of life (Seed & Early Stage, Later Stage & Growth), Tengelmann Ventures provides a high level of flexibility in terms of transaction structures. The investment team supports portfolio companies with relevant growth and expansion opportunities, ESG initiatives, personnel development, and mergers and acquisitions, while maintaining the necessary freedom to manage day-to-day operations independently.
Gewobag ID
Gewobag ID, Society for Innovation, Digitalization and Business Development, is a subsidiary of the Berlin-based housing company Gewobag AG. Gewobag ID invests in innovative early-stage start-ups (Seed to Series-A) related to the housing industry, in particular PropTech, GreenTech, EnergyTech and ConstructionTech.
Wake & Cie.
Wecken & Cie. is the investment vehicle of the Wecken Single-Family Office based in Basel, Switzerland. Since 2007, Wecken & Cie. has been investing in early-stage venture capital with a primary focus on disruptive B2B companies in the FinTech and PropTech sectors. Wecken & Cie. typically participates in seed or Series A financing rounds together with other institutional investors with an initial investment of 500,000 to 3 million euros and the opportunity to provide additional capital over the course of the investment. Wecken & Cie. invested in KUGU Home GmbH for the first time in 2019 and has been a strong supporter of Christopher, Niko and the entire KUGU team ever since.
IBB Ventures
IBB Ventures has been providing venture capital for innovative Berlin companies since 1997 and has established itself as the market leader in early-stage financing in Berlin. The funds are primarily used for the development and market launch of innovative products or services as well as for business concepts in the creative industries. In addition to the two VC funds for technology and creative companies with a volume of 90 million euros, an Impact VC fund endowed with 30 million euros has also been in the investment phase since 2022. All three VC funds are financed by Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the State of Berlin. IBB Ventures has already invested in more than 270 Berlin companies; in consortia with partners, the start-ups received more than 1.8 billion euros, of which IBB Ventures has invested more than 290 million euros as lead, co-lead or co-investor. IBB Ventures is the umbrella brand for the VC activities of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft and part of the IBB Group.
contact:
Sabine Wolff
IBB Ventures
Bundesallee 210
10719 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0) 30 212 532 01
email: info@ibbventures.de
.avif)