ANNEA, a climate tech startup automating predictive maintenance and performance optimization in renewable energy, has raised USD 2.9 million (€2.75 million) in Seed funding.
The round, led by Voyager Ventures, also saw participation from existing investors Innoport and Faber Ventures. ANNEA’s disruptive optimization technology significantly enhances renewable energy production from existing infrastructure by an average of 5 to 15 percent each year. At the same time, their next-generation predictive maintenance software slashes unplanned downtime by 80 percent and cuts maintenance expenses by 10 to 50 percent. ANNEA’s partners include the world’s largest renewable asset owners and operators who work with ANNEA to boost their operating margins.
ANNEA plans to leverage the recent funding to strengthen its foothold in the U.S. market, expand its established market position across Europe – including Germany, Spain, Portugal, and the UK – and grow in Southeast Asia. The company, based in Hamburg, Germany, is also looking to forge new strategic partnerships within the wind industry.
ANNEA’s comprehensive product uses artificial intelligence to create digital twins of every component within a wind turbine without having to install additional sensors. This software-only approach is ANNEA’s answer to the pressing challenges faced by renewable energy infrastructure owners and providers, including high operational costs and unexpected downtime. ANNEA’s ambitious goal is to eliminate 70 million tons of CO2 equivalents annually from renewable energy production.
ANNEA’s clients gain from its advanced machine learning and drone image recognition capabilities, which enable early detection of underperformance and failures, along with accurate production forecasting. It equips teams with in-depth insights, fostering data-driven decision-making and predictive maintenance, and ultimately enhancing the uptime and performance of renewable energy assets. Having worked with over 10,000 wind turbines, ANNEA boasts a vast and growing database for validation and training.
ANNEA’s technology is a game-changer for renewable energy producers, significantly boosting uptime and profits. “This investment is a testament to our team’s outstanding achievements,” stated Maik Reder, co-founder and CEO of ANNEA. “Building on our solid foundation from previous funding, we are now aiming to become a leader in the wind energy sector. With our technology, we are positioned to expand across wind assets worldwide, playing a crucial role in the energy transition.”
“We are thrilled that our existing investors believe strongly in our expertise and, especially, our solution,” said Marcel Frenzel, co-founder and COO of ANNEA. “This support propels us towards our goal of enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of renewable energy.”
Sierra Peterson, Founding Partner of the lead investor Voyager said: “We are thrilled to lead ANNEA’s Seed round and partner with their exceptional team to further their lead as the most sophisticated and unique software-only solution in the real-time monitoring, optimization, and predictive maintenance of wind energy assets. ANNEA’s platform is mission-critical for wind operators and service providers, preventing costly asset downtime and increasing power generation. In an industry where reliability is paramount, ANNEA’s solution has become indispensable. In our view, ANNEA is a key player in the renewable energy industry’s evolution towards data-driven decision-making. We are excited to accelerate ANNEA’s worldwide expansion.”
