WHEB Ventures, a European clean technology venture capital firm, has invested in the home energy management company PassivSystems.
Established in 2008 and headquartered in the UK, PassivSystems is developing the new PassivEnergy home energy management system.
Without forcing energy consumers to change their lifestyles, Passiv’s system monitors and automatically optimises energy consumption in the home including heating, hot water and electrical appliances.
PassivSystems is using this first round of external finance to establish a major commercial partnership and launch its first commercial product in early 2010.
James McNaught-Davis (pictured), managing partner at WHEB Ventures, says: “We are delighted to be making our first investment in smart grid technology, the market for which is estimated to be worth EUR30bn (GBP27bn) over the next five years. PassivSystems has a unique offering which will form a critical part of the smart grid infrastructure and help householders to save money and cut carbon emissions.”
Colin Calder, founder and chief executive of PassivSystems, says: “WHEB Ventures is a world class VC and we have established a very strong partnership with them. They have done an outstanding job in delivering both commercial and political opportunities over the last nine months and we look forward to bringing PassivEnergy to market in early 2010 with their support.”
The PassivEnergy system is based around the PassivHub, which communicates wirelessly to internal and external temperature sensors and appliance controls installed around the home and via the internet to the PassivEnergy service.
It is estimated that in the UK 60 per cent of the energy used in the home is for space and water heating and as much as eight per cent for electrical appliances on standby.
