Exnaton secures millions in funding from Silicon Valley and Switzerland to drive the expansion of renewable energies
05.10.2022
Driving the energy transition with software - that is the mission of Swiss startup Exnaton, a spin-off from Europe's elite university ETH Zurich. To this end, the award-winning startup is developing a billing platform for renewable energies that enables the sharing of surplus solar power within the neighborhood. With its rapid progress, Exnaton has, once again, convinced international investors of its growth potential: The two well-known investors True Ventures from Silicon Valley and Übermorgen Ventures from Zurich are new shareholders of Exnaton. The startup won Venture Kick, participated in Venture Leaders Technology, and was elected at the TOP100 Swiss Startup Awards. We interviewed Exnaton's co-founder and CEO Liliane Ableitner to learn more about her entrepreneurial path.
 Exnaton Co-founder and COO Dr. Anselma Wörner
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"After the events of the last few months, it is now clear to everyone that the energy sector needs to change fundamentally. We contribute to the transition to clean energy by integrating more local renewable energy into the energy system and by making local communities less dependent on other energy sources," says co-founder and COO Anselma Wörner."With new strong partners on board, we want to continue the growth trend our company has shown since its beginning. Exnaton is now expanding into new European markets and offering innovative solutions for a wide range of utilities.
Exnaton's founders from left to right: Dr. Arne Meeuw, Dr. Anselma Wörner, and Dr. Liliane Ableitner.
" The financing round is led by the renowned American VC True Ventures: "Since our first meeting in San Francisco last year, we were convinced that Exnaton's technology would fundamentally contribute to the successful energy transition," said Toni Schneider, partner at True Ventures, and former CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress. "Exnaton, today, is in a market niche which will soon offer many business opportunities in the energy sector." In addition to existing investors, Übermorgen Ventures, a climate tech VC from Exnaton's hometown Zurich, is also investing. Übermorgen has already invested in some of the most successful European startups in the energy sector and supports Exnaton with contacts and know-how. With the fresh capital, Exnaton plans to push its rapid expansion in the European market and extend the functionality of the software even further.
More than 15 utility companies from Central Europe already trust Exnaton's software and know-how, only two years after the company’s founding. The trio behind Exnaton's success met during their doctoral studies at ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen. With their complementary skills and common interests, the three entrepreneurs are changing the way energy is produced and consumed. In doing so, Exnaton is increasingly focusing on diversity: the team today consists of more than 15 energy changemakers from 10 nations ranging from baby boomers to Generation Z.
The ETH spinoff became successful with its software for energy sharing, whereby households trade the solar power they produce themselves directly with their neighbors. Exnaton's billing platform is aimed at utility companies who want to integrate the latest technology into their product portfolio to offer new types of renewable energy services to their own customers. In addition to energy sharing, the software today also enables citizens to invest in large renewable energy assets and smart energy tariffs. What is remarkable about the software is not only the white label option but also its integration into the ERP system SAP, for which the company won this year's SAP Innovation Award together with best practice consulting and its Austrian customer Burgenland Energie.
"Climate and energy are closely linked and will be the challenges of the next decade. The EU regulations for renewable energies are becoming more and more sophisticated and also more stringent. This is where our software finds its application perfectly suitable and will significantly save CO2!", says the Exnaton team.
The startup won Venture Kick, participated in Venture Leaders Technology, and was elected at the TOP100 Swiss Startup Awards. We interviewed Exnaton's co-founder and CEO Liliane Ableitner to learn more about her entrepreneurial path.
Liliane, how will the new investment help achieve your vision?
Our mission is to unlock business opportunities in renewables for our customers, the utility companies. To that end, we have built a billing platform that allows utility companies to offer new digital services around renewables. This way, energy consumers are taken by the hand and empowered to contribute to the energy transition. The investment helps us to grow the Exnaton sales and marketing team for expanding our presence in the European markets. At the same time, we invest in our product development team and extend the functionalities of our software.
You won Venture Kick in 2020. How did it help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
Venture Kick was one of the first programs we participated in when starting the company. We invested the financial kick in marketing, participated in high-class coaching sessions and we still highly benefit from the Venture Kick community today.
You also participated in Venture Leaders Technology in 2021 and were selected for the TOP 100 Swiss Startups Awards in 2022. How did it leverage your fundraising strategy?
This financing round all started with the Venture Leaders Technology Trip to the US. This is where we met our lead investor True Ventures for the first time. Ever since we have been in close contact and we are now super happy to have them onboard. Just last month, we were listed in the Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards as a newcomer in 2022. We feel honored by this ranking and hope it will lay the foundation for further rounds.
When and what was your inspiration to found Exnaton?
The project all started in 2017 with our Ph.D. project at ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen. In an interdisciplinary research team, we built Switzerland’s first energy community. With a first technical prototype and lots of positive user feedback in our pockets, we then decided to found the company Exnaton as an official ETH spinoff in 2020 after graduating.
What is your advice for the potential Energy Efficiency entrepreneurs launching companies in Switzerland today?
Right now is an excellent time for climate technology startups. The topic is more important than ever and investors have started to invest massively in climate tech. While the topic was hard to sell in 2020, 2022 is the time for impact-oriented startups – especially in the energy sector. To that end, make your story simple. In the energy sector, products are typically rather complex with many interdependencies – try to narrow it down and don’t focus too much on all the technical difficulties.
Source: Exanton Press Release and Venturelab interview
Exnaton's founders from left to right: Dr. Arne Meeuw, Dr. Anselma Wörner, and Dr. Liliane Ableitner." The financing round is led by the renowned American VC True Ventures: "Since our first meeting in San Francisco last year, we were convinced that Exnaton's technology would fundamentally contribute to the successful energy transition," said Toni Schneider, partner at True Ventures, and former CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress. "Exnaton, today, is in a market niche which will soon offer many business opportunities in the energy sector." In addition to existing investors, Übermorgen Ventures, a climate tech VC from Exnaton's hometown Zurich, is also investing. Übermorgen has already invested in some of the most successful European startups in the energy sector and supports Exnaton with contacts and know-how. With the fresh capital, Exnaton plans to push its rapid expansion in the European market and extend the functionality of the software even further.
More than 15 utility companies from Central Europe already trust Exnaton's software and know-how, only two years after the company’s founding. The trio behind Exnaton's success met during their doctoral studies at ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen. With their complementary skills and common interests, the three entrepreneurs are changing the way energy is produced and consumed. In doing so, Exnaton is increasingly focusing on diversity: the team today consists of more than 15 energy changemakers from 10 nations ranging from baby boomers to Generation Z.
The ETH spinoff became successful with its software for energy sharing, whereby households trade the solar power they produce themselves directly with their neighbors. Exnaton's billing platform is aimed at utility companies who want to integrate the latest technology into their product portfolio to offer new types of renewable energy services to their own customers. In addition to energy sharing, the software today also enables citizens to invest in large renewable energy assets and smart energy tariffs. What is remarkable about the software is not only the white label option but also its integration into the ERP system SAP, for which the company won this year's SAP Innovation Award together with best practice consulting and its Austrian customer Burgenland Energie.
"Climate and energy are closely linked and will be the challenges of the next decade. The EU regulations for renewable energies are becoming more and more sophisticated and also more stringent. This is where our software finds its application perfectly suitable and will significantly save CO2!", says the Exnaton team.
The startup won Venture Kick, participated in Venture Leaders Technology, and was elected at the TOP100 Swiss Startup Awards. We interviewed Exnaton's co-founder and CEO Liliane Ableitner to learn more about her entrepreneurial path.Liliane, how will the new investment help achieve your vision?
Our mission is to unlock business opportunities in renewables for our customers, the utility companies. To that end, we have built a billing platform that allows utility companies to offer new digital services around renewables. This way, energy consumers are taken by the hand and empowered to contribute to the energy transition. The investment helps us to grow the Exnaton sales and marketing team for expanding our presence in the European markets. At the same time, we invest in our product development team and extend the functionalities of our software.
You won Venture Kick in 2020. How did it help you lay the foundation for your growth and today's achievement?
Venture Kick was one of the first programs we participated in when starting the company. We invested the financial kick in marketing, participated in high-class coaching sessions and we still highly benefit from the Venture Kick community today.
You also participated in Venture Leaders Technology in 2021 and were selected for the TOP 100 Swiss Startups Awards in 2022. How did it leverage your fundraising strategy?
This financing round all started with the Venture Leaders Technology Trip to the US. This is where we met our lead investor True Ventures for the first time. Ever since we have been in close contact and we are now super happy to have them onboard. Just last month, we were listed in the Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards as a newcomer in 2022. We feel honored by this ranking and hope it will lay the foundation for further rounds.
When and what was your inspiration to found Exnaton?
The project all started in 2017 with our Ph.D. project at ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen. In an interdisciplinary research team, we built Switzerland’s first energy community. With a first technical prototype and lots of positive user feedback in our pockets, we then decided to found the company Exnaton as an official ETH spinoff in 2020 after graduating.
What is your advice for the potential Energy Efficiency entrepreneurs launching companies in Switzerland today?
Right now is an excellent time for climate technology startups. The topic is more important than ever and investors have started to invest massively in climate tech. While the topic was hard to sell in 2020, 2022 is the time for impact-oriented startups – especially in the energy sector. To that end, make your story simple. In the energy sector, products are typically rather complex with many interdependencies – try to narrow it down and don’t focus too much on all the technical difficulties.
Source: Exanton Press Release and Venturelab interview