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AI-powered UK sustainability startup Grid Edge has raised £2.8m in funding from Midlands Engine Investment Fund II, Mercia Ventures, Centrica, bp Ventures, and private investors.
The Birmingham-based company (whose founders met whilst working at Aston University’s Energy Research Institute) provides AI software that helps reduce carbon emissions (and energy costs) in commercial buildings.
Grid Edge's platform collects building data from multiple sources (its Data Gateway connects to existing Building Management Systems, but additional meter and sensor data is also ingested – along with external data around energy tariffs and weather, etc.). It then applies machine learning algorithms and analytics to provide automated insights that help companies prioritise actions to take in order to make savings.
Customers include Birmingham’s Bull Ring shopping centre and London’s Royal Opera House, and building owners and facilities management companies such as Amey, Equans and OCS. In December 2023, Grid Edge also announced a partnership with SCC so that the latter could offer Grid Edge’s services its clients to help them improve sustainability, meet their ESG objectives, and reduce their energy costs (see SCC and Grid Edge partner on AI-powered sustainability).
According to the latest (2024) Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the buildings and construction sector accounts for around 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions (in 2022, buildings were responsible for 34% of global energy demand and 37% of energy and process-related carbon dioxide emissions). When the report was published last year, the situation was already concerning enough for UNEP to state that the sector needed to show an annual increase of ten decarbonisation points (representing specific measures and actions taken to reduce emissions) – up from the six points per year anticipated in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was signed – in order to reach its goals of net-zero carbon emission buildings for new buildings by 2030.
According to early findings from the 2024 data we’re analysing for the upcoming Sustainability Technology Activity Index, 11.1% of c.1,000 sustainability-related activities we logged last year worldwide (from our global watchlist of over 2,000 companies) had a bearing on the Construction and Real Estate sector – with over half (55.6%) of them relevant to the UK market.
Look out for the latest Sustainability Technology Activity Index reports, coming soon – with in-depth analysis of the global picture (segmented by sector, use case area, and technology) and what the activity trends are telling us in uncertain times, plus deep dives into the UK market specifically. This research is available only to subscribers of SustainabilityViews. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can gain access.
