Energy IoT Startup Smart Joules Raises $4.9 Mn From Raintree, Others

Energy-efficiency-as-a-service startup Smart Joules has raised $4.9 Mn in a Series A funding round from various investors. The funding, which was first reported last month, has seen participation from Raintree Family Office, a single-family office looking to back ventures that are tackling chronic environmental and social issues in India. It invests through a hybrid model of a private philanthropic foundation and a socially conscious investing arm. 

Besides Raintree, ADB Ventures, the venture arm of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Sangam Ventures, Max I. Limited, cKinetics Accelerator, Dabur family’s Saket Burman and six other angel investors from India and the US have also participated in the funding round. 

Smart Joules claims to offer capital expenditure-free retrofits for commercial and industrial facilities by improving the overall design of energy-intensive systems like cooling, heating, compressed air and steam. The company claims that its proprietary DeJoule technology platform utilises various sensors and IoT controllers to track and control equipment and optimise overall facility performance in real-time using data. This technology platform allows Smart Joules to guarantee its clients 10%-30% energy savings, the startup claimed in its press statement. 

Founded in 2014, by Arjun P Gupta, Ujjal Majumdar and Sidhartha Gupta, Smart Joules will deploy the invested funds to strengthen its energy management team, enhance its digital technology platform, expand its presence across hospitals and scale its cooling-as-a-service offering for commercial buildings and industries with heavy air conditioning loads such as pharmaceuticals and data centres.

“We invest in businesses that offer scalable and commercially viable products focused on solutions for the planet and people. Our impact philosophy focuses on supporting entrepreneurs and businesses that achieve the right mix of economic and social impact while delivering competitive returns,” said Leena Dandekar, founder at Raintree Family Office.

“Smart Joules’ proprietary technology and proven business model addresses the urgent need to reduce energy wastage which resonates with our impact investment philosophy,” she added. 

Smart Joules counts various enterprises across sectors, such as Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Hospitals, Teerthanker Mahaveer University and Neemrana Hotels as its clients. 

Besides Smart Joules, startups involved in emerging technology spaces such as clean energy and EVs, drones, blockchain, AI and machine learning, among other things, are expected to play an important role in India’s smart cities of the future. Some of these startups are independent renewable energy producer ReNew Power, Gurgaon-based Internet of Things (IoT) focused enterprise Zenatix, which was acquired by Hero Electronix in 2018 and Bengaluru-based smart building solution provider 75F.