EDP invests in water heater startup

EDP Comercial and EDP Ventures has invested €1.7 million in the British startup Mixergy from a total investment round of €10.5 million.

EDP Ventures is the corporate investor of the Portuguese international energy group which is always on the lookout for opportunities that bring financial and strategic value in areas such as renewables, green hydrogen, energy storage, networks, decarbonisation, mobility and distributed energy resources. The €1.7 million will be invested in the company’s expansion plan in the Portuguese market.
Mixergy, which has kindled the interest of EDP since April 2022, invented an innovative system that uses artificial intelligence to learn the consumer patterns and habits of each family and heat only the water that is needed at each time of the day for showers or washing up, for example.
The technology is based on machine learning and by using solar energy produced by solar panels.
In Portugal the first pilot tests carried out with 10 families from Lisbon, Porto, Braga and Setúbal showed that up to 60% savings could be made from heating water, totally eliminating the need to use gas.
The investment in Mixergy occurred from an investment round from which the startup managed to raise €10.5 million from EDP Ventures and Nesta (UK Innovation Agency which are its two new shareholders.
The startup will use the investment raised in a new R&D centre and for its international expansion plan.
After installing thousands of these solar water heaters in the UK in partnership with British Gas, Portugal is now the first European market where Mixergy is expanding.