Hamburg, 30. April 2024 – 200 percent increase in turnover, 100 percent growth in personnel from the 2022 financial year to 2023. The energy transition is gaining momentum beyond solar systems and heat pumps. For the first time, climate protection company vilisto, which has developed an AI-supported energy-saving solution for non-residential buildings, is announcing key company figures to mark its eight-year anniversary.
In 2023, vilisto generated a turnover of six million euros – in 2024, this is expected to be in the double-digit million range. Since its foundation in 2016, the digital heat management system has saved around 10,000 tons of CO2 for more than 300 public clients and companies. The Hamburg-based company currently has 93 employees – by the middle of the year, this figure is expected to rise to over 100.
Climate protection must become easier
Despite the positive business development, vilisto’s Managing Director Christoph Berger believes that the achievement of climate targets is at risk. Although the willingness of municipalities and companies to invest in climate protection measures is increasing, the non-binding nature of politics and reduced budgets are leading to uncertainty and reluctance to implement them. “It takes far too long for political climate protection decisions to become clear recommendations for action and requirements for non-residential building operators. Climate protection must become simpler and faster: swift implementation of the recently adopted EU Buildings Directive into German law, more budget for the resulting measures and less bureaucracy, for example in public tenders and applications for funding. The motivation for climate protection that exists in many places must not be thwarted by politics,” says Berger.
It was only on April 15, 2024 that the German government agreed on a reformed, cross-sector climate protection law, which has been strongly criticised by the environmental association BUND, among others, because it removes the responsibility of the individual sectors to achieve their respective climate targets.
Energy transition is about more than just solar and heat pumps
The building sector is responsible for 40 percent of CO2 emissions in Germany and every year the interim emissions targets set out in the German Federal Climate Protection Act are not met. According to the German Energy Agency (dena), this is mainly due to room heating. In the private customer sector, companies such as tado°, 1Komma5, Enpal & Co. are already saving a lot of CO2. However, there is still a lot of unutilised savings potential in the non-residential building sector, says efficiency expert Berger.
Although non-residential buildings only account for a tenth of the building stock, they are responsible for a third of the total energy consumption of the building sector (see dena building report).
“Increasing energy efficiency – or in other words, avoiding energy waste – is an essential step in the energy transition and one that needs more attention,” Berger continues. “We are therefore developing our heat management solutions in such a way that they not only make ecological sense but are also economically attractive as a business case.”
Market for green innovations is flourishing
vilisto, German market leader for intelligent individual room control according to its own statement, reduces heating energy consumption and the associated CO2 emissions in public buildings, offices and educational institutions by up to 32 percent. Self-learning thermostats only heat rooms as required and automatically turn down the heat when no one is present.
However, the intelligent radiator thermostats, which are funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, are only one part of a more holistic heat management solution. In addition to efficient remote energy management, among others, room climate monitoring can also be carried out via a connected online platform. The Hamburg-based company is also currently working on new functions and additional services that will help local authorities, companies and property managers to save even more energy and comply with laws such as the Energy Efficiency Act and the EU Buildings Directive.
vilisto was founded in 2016, has won numerous awards such as the European EIT Award and the German Innovation Award for Climate and Environment and is backed by investors such as SET Ventures and E.R. Capital Holding. In February 2024, ex-tado CEO Toon Bouten also took over as Chairman of the Advisory Board of the green prop-tech.
About vilisto
vilisto is a Hamburg-based climate protection company that uses digital heat management to reduce energy consumption in non-residential buildings. At the heart of the energy-saving solution are intelligent thermostats that use patented, integrated sensors and self-learning algorithms to detect room usage and automatically optimise the temperature. This not only saves up to 32 percent of heating energy, but also reduces CO2 emissions. vilisto was founded in 2016 by Christoph Berger, Christian Brase and Lasse Stehnken and currently employs around 80 people. More than 300 customers are already part of the climate mission. Further information can be found at www.vilisto.de/en.
Press contact
vilisto GmbH
Kerstin Brouwer
PR-Manager
[email protected]
Tel: +49 40 3346 812 00
