1KOMMA5° Raises €70 Million to Scale Energy AI and 1 GW Virtual Power Plant

1KOMMA5° has raised more than €70 million in a new financing round to accelerate development of its Heartbeat AI platform, with the company pledging to invest more than €100 million in the technology during 2027. The round values the Hamburg-based cleantech company at a pre-money valuation of $1.35 billion, around 35% higher than its July 2025 financing. Around €35 million of the planned 2027 investment will also come from operating cash flow.

The round is led by b2venture, with Marunouchi Innovation Partners joining as a new shareholder. Existing investors including CalSTRS, eCapital, G2 Venture Partners and Eurazeo are also participating. 1KOMMA5° says the financing was oversubscribed and is the first round focused specifically on its energy AI business.

 

Heartbeat AI Is Becoming the Core Growth Engine

 

Heartbeat AI connects and controls distributed energy assets in homes, including batteries, heat pumps, solar systems, EV chargers and air conditioning. The platform aligns electricity production and consumption and can trade electricity on behalf of customers in power markets.

The company says the system now aggregates more than 1 GW of flexible capacity across five markets, making it one of Europe’s largest residential virtual power plants. The model is intended to lower customer energy costs while providing flexibility to power systems during periods of high or low renewable generation.

"The objective is clear: the energy system needs a universal energy AI that works as an end-to-end operating system," said Philipp Schröder, CEO and Co-Founder of 1KOMMA5°. "Our ambition is for Heartbeat AI to become exactly that and to bring clean, affordable energy to millions of people."

 

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Investment in AI Will Nearly Triple

 

1KOMMA5° says the new financing will allow it to nearly triple investment in Heartbeat AI. The more than €100 million budget for 2027 will be directed toward AI development, software capabilities and faster go-to-market execution.

That investment comes as electricity demand rises and distributed energy systems become more complex. The company is betting that software capable of coordinating millions of small energy assets can become a critical layer between households and electricity markets.

 

Hardware Profitability Is Funding Software Expansion

 

The company says its core hardware business is profitable at the EBITDA level and cash-flow positive, giving it the ability to fund part of the AI expansion internally. 1KOMMA5° also remains debt-free despite what it describes as record investment in software.

"We are making record investments in our software while our core hardware business remains profitable and cash-flow positive, and the company remains debt-free," said Micha Grüber, CFO and Co-Founder of 1KOMMA5°.

The company expects organic revenue growth of 35% to 40% in 2026 and said new customer orders in Germany rose almost 50% year-on-year in September.

 

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Financing Facilities Add Capacity Without Increasing Corporate Debt

 

1KOMMA5° has also secured financing facilities of up to €1.5 billion with banks for its public-sector and private customer segments. The company says these facilities are structured so they do not affect its own balance sheet, allowing it to support customer growth while keeping the business itself debt-free.

That gives the company two parallel funding channels: equity and internal cash flow for software and AI development, and external financing facilities to support deployment across customer segments.

 

The Next Test Is Whether 1 GW Can Become a Much Larger Flexibility Platform

 

Heartbeat AI’s existing scale of more than 1 GW gives 1KOMMA5° a meaningful operating base, but the next stage will depend on how quickly it can grow connected assets across its seven markets and deepen participation in power markets.

If the company can turn residential batteries, heat pumps, EV chargers and solar systems into a larger coordinated flexibility resource, Heartbeat AI could become a significant grid asset rather than simply a home energy management tool. The €100 million investment planned for 2027 shows that 1KOMMA5° is now treating software and energy intelligence as the central part of its growth strategy.

 

Source: 1KOMMA5°