Smart Joules Raises $8 Mn Debt From Denmark’s IFU To Offer B2B Cooling Solutions

Energy efficiency startup Smart Joules has bagged a debt funding of $8 Mn (about INR 66 Cr) from the Denmark government’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) under a green strategic partnership between India and Denmark. 

The startup said it will use the fresh funds for executing its pipeline of cooling-as-a-service partnerships with healthcare and hospitality chains to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Besides, the capital will also be used to enable Smart Joules to foray into cooling-intensive sectors like data centres, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, and commercial offices. 

Founded in 2014 by Arjun Gupta, Smart Joules claims to have developed the industry-first cooling-as-a-service (CaaS) solution that is designed keeping energy efficiency at the core of it.

The startup claims to have developed DeJoule – an advanced building and utility management IoT technology that optimises operations for maximised energy savings. It offers a one-stop solution called JouleCOOL, encompassing end-to-end services from design, implementation, operations, maintenance and energy optimisation. 

Commenting on the fundraise, Smart Joules founder and CEO Gupta said, “As a leap towards achieving our vision to reduce 29 Mn tonnes of carbon emissions by 2030, this investment will help us execute our robust pipeline of portfolio-wide Cooling-as-a-Service (CaaS) partnerships. Every dollar invested will go towards saving energy, carbon emissions and costs, allowing our customers to meet their decarbonisation and profitability objectives simultaneously and starting immediately.”

The startup plans to expand its partnerships across various industries, resulting in an incremental reduction of approximately 7.5 Lakh Tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. 

It also aims to aid the customers in achieving a minimum 20% reduction in energy costs by making energy efficiency the default choice towards combating climate change and fostering sustainable practices across sectors.

Smart Joules claims to have saved 23 Cr kWh of energy since its inception, translating to INR 181 Cr in energy costs and 1.6 Lakh tonnes in carbon emissions. It counts Apollo Hospitals, KIMS, and Aster among its clients in the healthcare sector and plans to soon foray into the Indian hospitality sector, with Le Meridien being the first customer from the sector.

In 2021, the startup raised equity funding of $4.9 Mn from Sangam Ventures, Max I. Limited, cKinetics Accelerator, Dabur family’s Saket Burman, and a clutch of other angel investors. 

Smart Joules is among the several Indian startups that have come up with innovative clean technology solutions over the last few years to help reduce carbon emissions.