Linkener, an energy technology startup, has closed a €7.5 million round led by Klima Energy Transition Fund (Alantra’s energy transition fund), with continued participation from GoHub Ventures. Together, they aim to accelerate the development of a leading technology platform for corporate energy management.
Linkener has developed an Intelligent Energy Management System with proprietary remote metering that enables businesses and organizations to measure their consumption with their own data, digitalize and validate their invoices, analyze their supplies and receive alerts, recommendations, and savings and optimization proposals to reduce and control their energy costs. It also has an engineering team that turns the savings opportunities identified into concrete actions, having delivered more than 400 solar PV and battery storage projects across Spain.
The startup serves more than 2,000 clients, from self-employed professionals to large corporates, with 10,000 supply points and 1.7 TWh managed annually, equivalent to the consumption of a city of 400,000 inhabitants. Digitalizing and optimizing energy management offers particular room for growth in the services sector, where controlling consumption can translate into savings of 20% and more efficient cost management.
AI and Technology for More Efficient Energy Management
The current environment, marked by high and volatile prices and growing contractual and regulatory complexity, reinforces the need for businesses and organizations to have greater visibility and control over their energy consumption and costs. In this context, digitalizing energy management makes it possible to turn consumption data into decisions and concrete savings opportunities.
With this funding, Linkener will accelerate the development of its technology and proprietary artificial intelligence models applied to energy management. The company aims to use AI and advanced data analytics to automate the processing of energy information and invoices, detect anomalies, and identify optimization and savings opportunities for its clients.
“This round will allow us to accelerate the transformation of a highly fragmented sector, where energy management is still anchored in practices from 40 years ago. We want businesses to have reliable data and technology to understand how much they spend on energy, anticipate their costs, and make better decisions,” said José Ignacio Ruiz, CEO of Linkener.
With this transaction, Linkener therefore aims to grow both organically and through acquisitions, and to bring “transparency and results to the thousands of businesses and organizations that do not want to limit themselves to managing their energy with a monthly invoice that is biased, partial and lacks the full picture,” in Ruiz’s words.
Klima Joins the Shareholder Base to Accelerate Linkener’s Growth and Consolidation
With Klima on board, Linkener is positioned to integrate additional companies and capabilities and to invest in applying AI to energy management, with proprietary algorithms and models focused on direct savings for clients.
“Energy management for businesses and organizations remains a highly fragmented market with enormous potential for digitalization. Linkener combines proprietary technology, independent energy data and a direct relationship with thousands of clients, creating a differentiated foundation on which to keep adding new capabilities and solutions. Our investment seeks to support the team in this new stage of growth, both organic and through acquisitions, with the goal of building a leading technology platform in energy management,” said Iñigo Echaniz, Partner at Klima, Alantra’s energy transition fund.
For Víctor Vercher, Partner at GoHub Ventures, the transaction highlights that, “since our first investment in 2019 we have been pioneers in digitalizing energy management and have built a differentiated technology platform. This round opens a new chapter that places us at the center of the sector, with a strong capacity to scale and consolidate the market. We are delighted to continue our support because we genuinely believe they lead the sector through their vision for AI and technology.” Linkener is already an end-to-end benchmark in energy management, from remote metering through day-to-day management to the delivery of solar PV and battery projects.
The transaction opens a period of consolidation in a highly fragmented market. Linkener plans to add new products and companies through M&A that complement its current business and expand the solutions offered to its clients, strengthening its product, technology and commercial capabilities.
