INVEN CAPITAL, which invests into promising start-ups in the new energy
sector, has acquired a minority share in the Swedish company Eliq, using funds
from both its investors: CEZ Group and European Investment Bank. The
company specialises in developing applications which help energy companies
precisely analyse household consumption patterns and subsequently offer
customers tailored cost-saving solutions. The co-investor in this EUR 5 million
round of investment, alongside Inven Capital, was Contrarian Ventures, which is
a VC fund from Lithuania specialising on smart energy investment.
From its headquarters in Gothenburg, the dynamic company Eliq promotes its customer
application to energy companies in Europe and recently also in South America. Besides the
Swedish giant Vattenfall, energy corporations in Norway, France, Spain, Great Britain and Chile
rely on its software solutions. The number of Eliq software platform users has surpassed one
million worldwide.
At the customer end, Eliq applications aggregate extensive data about consumption from smart
electricity meters and combine them with other information inputs such as weather data or data
from other smart sensors in the household (e.g. indoor temperature and humidity, smart
appliance operation, photovoltaic production, etc.) and the client’s account with the energy
company (chosen tariff, payment settings, etc.). Thanks to a sophisticated data analysis system,
customers have a real-time overview of their consumption, which they can compare over time or
with other customers in the area. They can also receive notices from the energy company about
sudden fluctuations or offers of cost-saving solutions. Eliq supplies the user interface to the
utility through a white-labelled application which the utility is subsequently offering to its end
users.
To acquire the minority stake, Inven Capital has partially used funds from the European
Investment Bank, which has committed EUR 50 million for joint investments.
“Eliq represents the future of communication between energy companies and their customers. It
builds on combining and analysing data from various sources and the active approach of
households with respect to monitoring consumption. As a result, utilities can offer effective
services and be reliable partners to their customers when seeking suitable cost-saving
solutions. We see future potential in Eliq applications even for CEZ Group companies,” said
Tomáš Pleskač, a Member of the Board of Directors of CEZ and Chief Renewable Energy and
Distribution Officer.
Eliq is the eleventh investment for Inven Capital. “We were amazed by how Eliq is lowering the
churn rate of their utility customers, for some by up to 70%. They are enabling to build deep
trust between the utility and the end consumer which is manifested by the steep increase in
engagement rate and interaction time – in some cases tenfold,” said Petr Míkovec, Managing
Director of Inven Capital.
Eliq plans to use the additional funds for continuous expansion on the European market and for
further development of its products. “We enable utilities to become a meaningful part of
customers’ lives and ultimately help accelerate the Energy Transition from within those
customers’ homes. The new funds will enable us to bring more solutions to market quickly, and
to broaden our geographical reach by growing the teams both at our Gothenburg headquarters
and our London operations,” says Håkan Ludvigson, CEO and co-founder of Eliq.
In addition to Inven Capital, the Lithuanian venture capital fund Contrarian Ventures, which
specialises in investments into smart energy, also participated in the current round of
investment. Both companies will have their representative in Eliq´s Board of Directors. Some of
the existing investors have also joined.
In five years of activity and investments into energy start-ups, Inven Capital gained a reputation
as a qualified and capable investor that supports companies starting out in the new energy
sector. A qualified management team, portfolio of invested companies, fund performance and
successful due diligence were the basis of the 2017 European Investment Bank’s decision to
create a joint investment structure with Inven Capital.