Bengaluru: 75F, a US- and India-based company that provides energy-efficient, IoT-powered wireless building automation solutions, said on Friday it has raised a $18 million Series A funding round, co-led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures--the venture arm of a coalition backed by Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, and with participation from Building Ventures, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, and Clean Energy Trust.
This, the company claimed in a press release, is the largest investment till date in the energy-efficiency technology category in the Asia-Pacific region. The company, founded in 2012, has raised a total of $25 million to date.
This also marks the first investment for the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative in the buildings space, and 75F aligns with Breakthrough Energy Ventures’ work to significantly reduce emissions from buildings, one the largest contributors to climate change.
According to Deepinder Singh, CEO of 75F, “This strategic funding will allow 75F to invest in key positions, continue to innovate our product and customer solution, and strengthen our partner network across North America, Middle East, and APAC including India, Singapore China, and Australia."
Funds from this round will be used to scale support and operations, invest in R&D, upgrade office locations in both the Twin Cities and Bangalore, India, and open additional satellite office locations. 75F recently filled key marketing, supply chain, and finance leadership roles in the US as well as a finance leadership role in APAC. The company is currently recruiting for sales, software engineers, and product engineers as well as service, support, and supply chain associates in both the US and APAC.
Energy use in buildings is a $400-500 billion a year problem. Developing countries in Asia account for two-thirds of global energy growth, driving the growth of energy-efficient Smart Building Technology in this market.
75F offers a vertically-integrated smart building solution that includes wireless sensors, equipment controllers and cloud-based software, delivering predictive, proactive building automation right out-of-the-box. According to Gaurav Burman, VP and APAC President of 75F, "The company has been gaining ground in the APAC market, growing at triple-digits year on year, and see promise for continued growth in an addressable market of $10 bn."
