How This Startup Is Slashing Electricity Bills For Hostels, Hotels & Homes

Many of us are obsessed with maintaining our cars or even timely renewing or upgrading annual maintenance contracts for home appliances. However, things often get out of hand when it comes to managing electricity.

Well, who has not been shocked seeing the hefty electricity bill that lands in your mailbox at the peak of the country’s summer season, especially in the north? What follows next is the commitment to cut back on electricity consumption, and we all know how that goes.

Haunted by his hefty electricity bills and unending spree of commitments to scale down electricity consumption, Bharath Rnkawat, an engineer, decided to build a solution that could help a brigade of users like him consume electricity more wisely.

Thus began Rnkawat’s journey to building Enlog, a deeptech startup founded in 2019, which today specialises in electricity management through its IoT device stack and AI-powered software.

The company creates solutions that seamlessly integrate into existing electrical systems, enhancing appliance efficiency and user convenience while promoting sustainability. Enlog’s technology is suited for both commercial and household applications, allowing customers to manage their electricity usage with minimal effort, all while extending the lifespan of appliances.

Rnkawat personally takes pride in Smi-Fi, which serves as a home energy assistant and makes homes smarter, safer, and more energy-conscious. The tech allows users to control their entire home on phones.

The founder claims to have achieved up to a 23% reduction in electricity consumption across various implementations through its solutions.

With over 15,000 users across hospitality, co-living, and commercial spaces, the Gurugram-based company claims to have managed more than 11,300 MWh of electricity and reduced carbon emissions by more than 2,000 tonnes since its inception. The company aims to cull additional one Mn tonnes of carbon emissions by 2027.

On the financial side, the startup claims to have garnered INR 2.5 Cr in FY24 revenues, registering a 1,300% jump from INR 17 Lakh in FY23. It is projecting INR 12-13 Cr in FY25 revenues.

Behind all of Rnkawat’s endeavour is his father’s vision and push to make him do what mattered the most or what could truly impact society. This advice, as per him, seemed to have turned his fortunes around, all while making society more conscious of its energy consumption habits.

The Long Road To Enlog

Even though Rnkawat officially registered the startup in June 2019, his journey started in 2013 when he took up a project to improve the energy efficiency of resonance generators.

During this time, he realised that the real opportunity was not is optimising energy. However, to bring his vision to life, Rnkawat needed both capital and experience.

Years passed until he finally gathered the courage to launch his first venture, EPVI Lighting Technologies, in 2017. The first startup was funded through personal savings from previous corporate jobs and family support.

The company which specialised in LED lighting helped Rnkawat generate enough funds to eventually shift his focus to his higher calling, which has always been building tech that can boost the energy efficiency of appliances.

“The skills, experience, and network I gained through this venture helped me shape the foundation of Enlog,” said Rnkawat.

By June 2019, with enough resources and savings, Rnkawat began conducting in-depth market research to understand electricity usage patterns. Over the next six months, his team surveyed 1,000 households and several hotels, schools, colleges, and factories, studying their energy consumption patterns.

The research revealed that while India’s electricity demand and generation were nearly balanced, consumption patterns varied greatly. Rnkawat also discovered that most users lacked awareness about smart energy usage, with many paying high bills due to faulty or unattended appliances.

This issue extended beyond households to larger consumers like commercial buildings and factories. Although companies like Schneider Electric and Siemens offered solutions, there was a significant gap in the market for smaller offices and commercial spaces.

Recognising the scale of this problem, Rnkawat began working on a proof of concept (POC) for Enlog. Next, the founder conducted a pilot of its tech in 2020, manufacturing and deploying around 50-60 units of prototype energy assistant by the end of the year. The pilot provided valuable insights into user behaviour, allowing them to refine the product based on feedback.

A key lesson from a year of testing for the founder was that the product needed to perform effectively in various conditions — whether across different locations or with fluctuating voltage levels.

“The goal was to create a solution that could cater to everyone, from households to hotels and smaller offices, helping them manage energy use more efficiently,” he added.

This was also the year (2020) when Jharna Saha joined him. Rnkawat said that while he was confident in building the product, he needed someone to redesign the app. Therefore, he connected with Jharna, who has a background in marketing, user insights, UI, UX, and brand building.

Finally, in January 2021, the founder developed the first product, Smi-Fi Energy Assistant. With this, the company became fully operational and began to generate revenue.

Currently, the brand’s hero product is Smi-Fi, which has been rebranded as Enmate. The Enmate device is also an upgraded version of Smi-Fi, offering more flexibility and a more compact design.

Enlog’s Feedback Loop

As smooth as the founder’s journey may seem — a passionate engineer developing solutions to change the rules of the game fuelled by his unending passion for innovation —  it has been anything but easy.

According to the founder, developing the product posed many challenges, as customer feedback revealed several areas that needed improvement. After launching the first product, the founder was slapped with negative feedbacks. However, he soon realised that customers were more interested in knowing the amount of money saved rather than technical details like voltage and watt.

Customers also expressed frustration about having to constantly check apps, notifications and dashboards. Additionally, many believed that installing Enlog’s solution would require them to replace their expensive appliances, which made them hesitant to adopt the tech.

After deeply analysing all these challenges, the founder began focussing more on the technical aspects to ensure that these complaints were resolved.

Today, Enlog is the byproduct of all these struggles combined. The startup’s technology stack comprises both hardware and software components. The software is cloud-based and designed to enhance insights related to energy consumption and appliance behaviour, while the primary server manages all data processing and monitoring.

The brand leverages IoT and machine learning to provide intelligent energy insights, tracking consumption patterns and uncovering hidden electricity wastage without human intervention.

Its system effectively manages electricity use without constant dashboard checks, making it ideal for hotels, offices, commercial spaces, rental properties, and residential buildings. According to the founder, Enlog’s systems go beyond basic electricity monitoring by identifying appliance signatures to detect faulty devices in real time.

In household applications, the product can take corrective action based on its monitoring. In commercial settings like hotels and co-living spaces, additional sensors, such as temperature and humidity monitors, help the AI system send appropriate commands to the Enmate device.

The company’s technology stack is developed in-house, which allows the founder to maintain operational expenses.

What Future Holds For Enlog

Currently, Enlog generates revenue through direct sales. As much as 50-60% of its revenue comes from hostels, 25% from hotels, and 10-15% from corporate offices.

The startup is now expanding its B2B operations into major Indian metro cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai, where there is a high concentration of hostels and mid-range hotels.

Over the past year, Enlog has partnered with over 750 hostels and PGs and 35 hotels in Delhi NCR, including brands like Bloom Hotel and your-space. It’s also running pilot projects with Holiday Inn and Lemon Tree.

In the short term, the startup aims to strengthen its presence in the hotel segment, targeting establishments that may lack access to or looking for energy management options.

In the long term, the company wants to serve the household market.

“However, the household market is not yet ready for our product. We are planning to use the power of social media to make end users aware that they can reduce their electricity bills by 20-30%. Unfortunately, many consumers rely more on these Chinese products,” the founder said.

The brand is actively fostering conversations about electricity efficiency on social media and plans to expand its online presence by listing its products on all major marketplaces, such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Indian Trade, before Diwali. The company is also collaborating with schools and residential societies to educate the public about energy efficiency.

Meanwhile, the startup plans to launch a smaller version of its Enmate at a price of INR 2,000-3,000. “Once users try the smaller version, they can explore the user-friendly mobile application, which provides insights into carbon emissions and electricity savings,” the founder said. The new product is set to launch before Diwali, further expanding the brand’s reach and impact.

For FY25, the startup is prioritising R&D to transition from reliance on external servers to edge computing by developing its own System on Chips (SoCs) that integrate communication protocols and data from electricity channels.

So far, the startup has raised INR 2.75 Cr from Vinners Group and Elina Investments and stands at a valuation of INR 40 Cr. While it appears to have established a solid foundation, it will be interesting to see how the company plans to flourish beyond this point, especially given that the household segment is still niche and consumer mindsets are not fully prepared for such products.

[Edited By Shishir Parasher]