Trawa raises €10M to optimise SMEs' energy consumption and costs

Berlin-based renewable energy supplier trawa has secured a €10 million Seed round. The latest capital raise brought trawa's total to more than €12M.

Modern energy procurement and infrastructure are complicated for SMEs, who are usually unable to navigate the complex and volatile energy markets. Instead, they typically buy electricity at a fixed rate, which is, on average, 20 per cent more expensive than structured procurement. 

Energy markets changed overnight when war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis and soaring costs across Europe and in Germany in particular.

trawa gives SMEs, which generally do not have specialist procurement expertise in energy,  tools to structure their energy purchasing. 

trawa's AI can create an optimal combination of power from different products to match the buyer's individual consumption patterns. In this way, trawa can procure electricity in instalments at staggered times, yielding significant cost savings. 

As well as improving energy procurement, trawa's management software allows companies to optimise how and when they consume electricity. It gives SMEs a real-time overview of their energy consumption, generation and cost data and even allows them to automatically shift consumption to times of the day when electricity prices are lower. 

The combination of AI-powered purchasing and management software means companies can make annual savings on their energy costs of up to 30 per cent. 

trawa co-founder and CEO David Budde commented: 

"Businesses face an immense challenge in navigating a volatile energy market. trawa uses its technology to help small and medium-sized companies secure not only more affordable, but also renewable energy. 

This financing will enable trawa to further build out our ecosystem platform to supply businesses with a solution that automatically manages and optimises their energy costs, consumption and emissions."

trawa's partners include some of Germany's largest suppliers and smaller energy providers such as farmers with solar and wind farms. This means all energy purchased through trawa is clearly traceable for sustainability reporting purposes. 

Balderton Capital led the round which included participation from AENU alongside previous investors Speedinvest, Magnetic and TinyVC. 

James Wise, General Partner at Balderton, said: 

"In the face of the climate crisis and volatile energy pricing market, renewable energy is a way for companies to take control of their energy security.

 trawa offers companies a bespoke solution for energy procurement, shielding SMEs from price explosions, helping them make the most of investments in assets like smart batteries and solar power and providing granular data for ESG reporting." 

Philip Specht, Partner at AENU, said:

 "Cost and sustainability targets are influencing the energy procurement process of European companies. Trawa is uniquely positioned to serve both targets and become the one-stop-shop for SMEs' green energy needs, from securing renewable electricity to managing consumption and distributed energy resources."

Lead image: trawa. Photo: uncredited.