Energy efficiency startup Zenatix gets US$1.2 million in fresh funding

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Early-stage venture capital fund Pi Ventures announced today that it’s ploughing US$1.2 million in energy efficiency startup Zenatix Solutions. The investment is the VC firm’s second in four months, and comes after it infused capital in real-time cardiac monitoring startup Ten3T in December.

Zenatix’s existing investor Blume Ventures also participated in the round. The startup previously raised about US$200,000 in 2015 from a group of angel investors led by Rahul Khanna of Trifecta Capital, Rajan Anandan of Google, and Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal.

The startup’s device fits into the local electricity grid, which then collects and analyses energy usage based on temperature, humidity, and occupancy. The data is processed and analyzed to provide tips on how to reduce electricity consumption. Its clients include Starbucks, Google, and Xerox.

Zenatix plans to use the funds to expand its network in Southeast Asia within this year. Part of the funds will also be used to hire new talent, the company said. The startup expects to be profitable by mid-2018.

“We have a subscription-based model, and the energy efficiency benefit outweighs the fee. Users can also benefit from improved experience and ability to automatically audit the electricity usage,” says Rahul Bhalla, co-founder of Zenatix.

Charging ahead

Zenatix – which was founded by Rahul Bhalla, Vishal Bansal, and Amarjeet Singh – uses machine learning to provide energy efficiency to large corporates.

Its first solution – WattMan – addresses the problem for large retail chains and financial institutions that require electricity round-the-clock. WattMan was launched in April 2016.

Manish of Pi Ventures feels the product value will increase gradually, as it gathers richer data sets, which will also help in collating predictive insights. WattMan is deployed in over 500 retail outlets, banks and ATMs, for its clientele of twenty corporates.