On Tuesday, September 19th, Dynamo and UBS officially unveiled their fourth annual whitepaper titled Cleantech Innovation, Collaboration, and Climate Action during the annual Dynamo Energy Transition Summit held during Climate Week. Every year, Dynamo and UBS profile up-and-coming cleantechs who are on their way to revolutionizing the energy industry in this annual whitepaper. This year’s paper profiled 10 cutting-edge cleantechs including Dynamo member simuwatt (dba buildee)
In addition to spotlighting 10 innovative cleantechs, the paper posits four Key Takeaways::
- Start-Up Funding on the Rise The evolution of climate-focused startup funding from 2021 to 2023 underscores the seismic shift in global consciousness regarding climate change
- Existing Obstacles to Innovation The transition to cleantech solutions requires overcoming barriers such as regulatory hurdles, technological scalability, and fundraising.
- Diverse Opportunities The heightened awareness of climate risks and the increasing alignment of financial interests with environmental goals have paved the way for a diverse array of funding avenues.
- Unlimited Potential Investors are recognizing the potential for both financial returns and positive societal impact.
See below for the section featuring buildee!
Providing intelligent data to reduce commercial building emissions
“simuwatt is the developer of buildee®, a cloud-based mobile SaaS platform providing a
holistic portfolio-wide view that coordinates energy efficiency and carbon reduction.”
- Bryan Conklin, CEO and President
Tell us about simuwatt.
simuwatt® produces the buildee® software platform, a SaaSbased energy efficiency platform used to easily analyze, benchmark, and prioritize energy saving and decarbonization opportunities more quickly, less expensively, and with better results for commercial and multi-family portfolio owners. buildee® makes ESG actionable by streamlining data collection of energy consuming equipment and identifying the highest impact opportunities.
What trends have accelerated growth in your space
A few key trends have accelerated growth in our space. Climate change and the fact that ~40% of carbon emissions come from the built environment has driven more utilities, municipalities, and property owners to begin taking action on the emissions from buildings and facilities. Tied to this is the trend of new policies that are increasing the benchmarking of buildings as a requirement by cities and municipalities–and Building Performance Standard programs setting target reductions on carbon and energy use intensity, and associated fines for missing those targets. Finally, equity markets that support the acquisition of buildings have earmarked their capital with sustainability requirements. This too is accelerating attention to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions from buildings.
What are the main opportunities or challenges in your sector?
The opportunity is quite expansive–whether helping utilities support their customers in reducing energy consumption or in supporting municipalities and building owners. Energy efficiency is not executed overnight and as government support increases we will see a tsunami of demand seeking help in identifying and executing these opportunities. The challenge on the other side of the coin is that some have "kicked the can down the road" on capturing the benefits of energy efficiency. Overcoming building owner's reluctance to beneficially invest in their properties requires some
inspiritment.
How can collaboration accelerate innovation?
We are leveraging buildee®’s innovations to rapidly accelerate collaboration and the speed of business to produce the outcomes desired by customers. For instance, utilities can now connect seamlessly with customers, contractors, and other participants in the energy efficiency process all in one place. Similarly, customers in the energy trades have fully digitized their business through buildee®. That fundamentally and dramatically changes a business–it accelerates the speed
of projects, but is also expanding the capacity of the business to identify, sell, and execute energy efficiency projects thereby creating a financial impact to the business, for its
customers, and for the environment.
How has the market impacted your access to capital?
While the market seems to have pulled back, there is still devoted interest in making progress on the climate change issue and climate-focused VC’s seem keenly interested in our value proposition and the traction we continue to make. In general, I think it now takes a bit longer to find a capital
partner; however, it also has forced business focus and for us very close ties with our investors who continue to be bullish and financially supportive of our progress.