Eur 1 million for Novo

PropTech startup Novo secures €1 million in a pre-seed round to automate building energy retrofits. The goal is to accelerate the decarbonization of real estate.

Berlin - PropTech startup Novo has successfully closed a €1 million pre-seed funding round. The company aims to accelerate the decarbonization of real estate on a large scale.

The funding round was led by Citizen Capital, a French impact investor, and 2bX, an early-stage investor focused on UrbanTech, participated as co-lead. Antler, a global VC investor, and a group of angel investors including Franz De Waal and Kerstin Bock also invested.

The transition to renewable energy in the building sector will be the dominant theme in the coming years - both the real estate sector and policymakers will have no choice but to take energy renewal measures to meet EU-wide regulations.

Katharina Lind, Partner at 2bX

Novo focuses on automating and accelerating the complex process of building energy renewal. The company offers services in three steps: Analyzing the current state of the building, creating an energy renewal plan, and linking it to subsidies and loans to reduce costs. This service is directly integrated with the systems of partners such as banks and energy providers.

Novo works closely with the Technical University of Berlin to ensure the quality of its technology. Financial resources are used to further develop the technology and accelerate automation. The company is already partnering with financial institutions and energy providers to reach building owners at scale. Partnerships are active in Germany with companies such as DZ Bank and RheinEnergie.

The founding team's determination to accelerate climate action in the real estate sector across Europe impressed us and made Novo's support an obvious choice.

Olivier Mougenot, Partner at Citizen Capital

The European Union has a target to renovate 15% of its building stock by 2030, a significant increase from Germany's current rate of 1%. Novo's automation is expected to accelerate planning for building owners and enable seamless renovation implementation.Christoph Klink, partner at Antler, emphasized the importance of Novo and its technology, which could transform the way homeowners manage their energy renovation to reduce emissions.

Julia Wadehn and Mona Hornung, Novo's founders, bring experience from global technology companies as well as scaling startups. Prior to founding Novo, they were involved in leading technology companies backed by various VCs. Novo is at the intersection of PropTech and KlimaTech, providing a solution that supports the process of energy renewal in buildings in a simple and scalable way.