KUGU Home GmbH Successfully Completes Series A Financing Round with Tengelmann Ventures and Gewobag ID
Berlin, November 12, 2024 – The Berlin-based PropTech company KUGU, led by Managing Directors Christopher von Gumppenberg and Niko Mikac, has entered a pivotal fourth quarter with the successful completion of a Series A financing round, securing €8.5 million. New investors and shareholders include Tengelmann Ventures, Gewobag ID, and industry experts Michael Lowak (former CEO Germany at G+E GETEC Holding GmbH) and Axel Müller (former Member of the Management Board at QUNDIS GmbH). Both Mr. Lowak and Mr. Müller have actively supported KUGU as advisory board members since last year.
In a strong show of confidence and commitment, existing shareholders, including Wecken & Cie., IBB Ventures, and Future Energy Ventures, have also reinvested. The new funds will be directed toward further development of KUGU’s digital product portfolio as well as scaling sales and operations.
Embracing Decarbonization
KUGU's digital decarbonization solutions support real estate companies in meeting their emissions targets. Acting as an intelligent extension of the digital boiler room, KUGU's products optimize and control energy systems through real-time monitoring of operational parameters, achieving verifiable reductions in CO₂ emissions and energy consumption of up to 30%. This highly efficient solution is built on a proprietary technology platform and the costs for the customers are fully allocatable to the tenants.
The PropTech company currently manages over 12,000 buildings on its platform and achieved energy savings of 25 million kWh last year alone — equivalent to the average annual consumption of around 7,000 households. More than 60 companies are already leveraging KUGU’s sustainable efficiency and smart solutions, including major housing companies, municipal utilities, and leading metering service providers across Germany.
Voices of Successful Collaboration
"With the continuous expansion of its product portfolio and extensive experience with major housing associations, KUGU has established itself as a significant innovation leader in digital energy solutions for the real estate sector," says Alexander Greis, Investment Manager at Tengelmann Ventures. "We are excited to support the team on its growth journey with our expertise in retail and commercial real estate." KUGU has also gained a strong partner in the housing sector with Gewobag ID: "We see KUGU as a long-term partner that brings impressive expertise and agility to actively drive decarbonization in the real estate sector with smart digital solutions," says Sven Harke-Kajuth, Managing Director of Gewobag ID, about the upcoming collaboration. Michael Lowak, elaborating on his support for the PropTech company, adds, "KUGU's innovative approach addresses the challenges within the real estate sector and enables scalable solutions. With my extensive experience in the energy and real estate industries, I know how urgently these digital products for decarbonization are now needed."
Poised for the Next Phase of Growth
"The successful completion of this funding round allows us to continue building our dedicated team – together, we aim to achieve ambitious growth goals," comments Co-Founder and Managing Director Christopher von Gumppenberg. "Understanding and utilizing the energy data generated in every building was the founding idea of KUGU, which is now realizing its great potential with our decarbonization solutions in the digital boiler room sector. We are very proud to see our innovative solutions live in action with an increasing number of clients."
"This investment allows us to build on our success, with plans to optimize approximately 50,000 buildings on our platform in the near future," adds Managing Director Niko Mikac. "This will save over 100,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually in the real estate sector. Our next key milestone is achieving profitability for KUGU. We extend our gratitude to all our existing and new investors, whose trust and ongoing support have made KUGU's success possible."
About the investors and shareholders:
Tengelmann Ventures
Tengelmann Ventures invests in B2C and B2B companies with forward-looking products, disruptive business models, and innovative technologies. Through investments of €1 to €15 million across various stages (Seed & Early Stage, Later Stage & Growth), Tengelmann Ventures offers high flexibility in transaction structures. The investment team supports portfolio companies with growth and expansion opportunities, ESG initiatives, talent development, and mergers and acquisitions, while allowing management teams the freedom to independently handle daily operations.
Gewobag ID
Gewobag ID, the company for innovation, digitization, and business development, is a subsidiary of Berlin's Gewobag AG housing company. Gewobag ID invests in innovative early-stage startups (Seed to Series A) relevant to the housing industry, particularly in PropTech, GreenTech, EnergyTech, and ConstructionTech.
Wecken & Cie.
Wecken & Cie. is the investment vehicle of the Wecken Single-Family Office based in Basel, Switzerland. Investing in early-stage venture capital since 2007 with primary focus on disruptive B2B company in the FinTech and PropTech space, Wecken & Cie. typically participates together with other institutional investors in Seed or Series A investment rounds with €500,000 to €3 millioninitially, with the ability to provide additionally capital over the life of the investment. Wecken & Cie. originally invested in KUGU in 2019 and has been a strong supporter of Christopher and Niko and the whole KUGU team ever since.
IBB Ventures
Since 1997, IBB Ventures has provided venture capital to innovative Berlin-based companies, establishing itself as a leader in early-stage financing in Berlin. The funds are primarily used to develop and launch innovative products or services and support business concepts in the creative industries. In addition to its two VC funds for technology and creative enterprises, totaling €90 million, IBB has also launched a €30 million Impact VC fund. All three VC funds are financed by Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), managed by the state of Berlin. IBB Ventures has invested in over 270 Berlin companies, helping startups secure over €1.8 billion in consortia with partners, with IBB Ventures contributing over €290 million as lead, co-lead, or co-investor. IBB Ventures is the umbrella brand for the VC activities of IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft and part of the IBB Group.
Contact:
Sabine Wolff
IBB Ventures
Bundesallee 210
10719 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 212 532 01
Email: info@ibbventures.de
