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Energy monitoring developer Onzo has secured £2 million investment from Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) and Sigma Capital Group. The investment is specifically targeted at bringing Onzo's prototype energy display products to market later this year.
As part of the deal SSE has secured exclusive distribution rights to Onzo's energy monitoring products in the UK and Ireland and it has already placed an order worth over £7 million. SSE will offer the energy monitoring product and services as part of a number of tariffs nationwide.
"To take the product mainstream, we knew we needed to work with an energy company who could bring it to its customers," Joel Hagan, CEO of Onzo told Smartplanet. "Energy monitoring products are currently niche techy products and without this sort of relationship they are unlikely to break into the mainstream."
Onzo has set up a crack team of product designers to come up with products that appeal to mainstream consumers. Essentially Onzo is a network organisation bringing together a number of companies including Sentec (energy monitoring), PA Consulting and Element 06 (award winning product designers). Onzo's first product is a real-time energy monitoring device that can display energy consumption in a number of different ways, such as pounds, carbon or kWh. Information from the device can be provided to customers over the web or on their bill to give them a detailed energy report on their home. We've reviewed four existing energy monitors -- the OWL, Wattson, Efergy Meter and Eco-Eye -- over here.
The ultimate aim of energy monitoring products is to help persuade consumers to cut their energy consumption, and drive uptake of microgeneration and more efficient domestic appliances. Many consumers seem to need some sort of push towards cutting their domestic carbon emissions, which make up nearly a third of the UK's total. A recent report from house builders' association the NHBC found that most home owners don't understand the benefits of energy efficiency and zero carbon homes.
Sigma and SSE have each invested £1 million in Onzo and provided non-executive directors for the board. Sigma's investment is being made through its Sigma Sustainable Energy Fund II, which is worth £45 million. The source of the funding comes from strategic partners including SSE, Bank of Scotland, private equity company West Coast Capital and Elsina Limited, a company owned by Investec Trust, the trustees for the Tchenguiz Family Trust.
Sigma has already invested in number of green-tinged companies, including St Andrews Fuel Cells Limited (new fuel cell technology spin off from University of St Andrews), Pelamis Wave Power Limited and Aquamarine Power Limited (both wave energy conversion) and IRT Surveys Limited (thermal mapping for energy loss).
29 April 2008 03:30pm
I see that E.ON might be stealing a march on SSE with their new campaign offering energy monitoring technology to their customers. www.eonenergy.com/At-Home/Products/Products-Electricity-And-Gas/Electricity-and-Gas/Energy-Saver.htm?WT.mc_id=Energy Saver&WT.svl=8
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