The market for battery energy storage systems is snowballing. It is an essential enabler of renewable energy generation, helping alternatives steadily contribute to the world’s energy needs. As per McKinsey, over $5 billion was invested in the energy storage segment in 2022 and the growth is continuing this year with investments in Statera Energy and Modo Energy.
Now, suena, a Hamburg startup specialised in AI-driven optimisation and power trading services for flexible energy assets such as large-scale battery storage, has closed a €3 million seed funding round. It was co-led by the Santander InnoEnergy Climate Fund that backed Open Cosmos and Smart Energy Innovationsfonds of Energie 360. It saw additional participation from the existing shareholders EIT InnoEnergy, Raakwark Kaptaal, and Business Angels.
suena will use the capital to introduce its innovative AI-based “Autopilot” software solution to markets across Europe, further extend its functionality, and expand the team with international top talent.
AI-driven Energy storage platform
Founded by Miguel Wesselmann and Tom Witter in 2021 in Hamburg, suena has developed an Autopilot, representing a revolutionary approach to monetise flexible energy assets on power and balancing markets. While current situations fall short in this rapidly transforming market, this multi-market optimisation and trading software addresses the challenge. Based on price and market forecasts, it specifies when to buy and sell energy energy storage at which market.
The Autopilot is designed to handle the complexity of efficient and strategic power trading on multiple markets. It processes millions of data points every minute, continuously optimises trading strategies, and reacts in real time to fluctuations in the power grid.
suena’s modular software design allows us to quickly adapt to new market designs and regulations of different countries in this fast-changing environment. This flexibility enables it to rapidly scale its operations globally.
“suena was born out of a vision to be a catalyst for the energy transition,” said CEO Dr. Lennard Wilkening. “Energy storage capacity at scale and its efficient deployment is a crucial part of that. With the suena Autopilot, suena offers a 100% software-based and fully automated trading-as-a-service platform for energy storage and renewable energy asset owners, making crucially important storage capacity and renewable energy available when and where it’s needed the most.”
“The combination of innovative technology, an efficient expert team, and the attractive, fast-growing market for energy storage and renewables further convinced our investment decision. suena’s technology provides a much-needed solution to help asset owners and operators to run energy storage profitably. This way suena taps into the still unused potential of already existing flexibilities in the grid, to integrate renewable energies and fast track the energy transition now,” commented Giovanni Bologna, from Santander InnoEnergy Climate Fund.
Metin Zerman, from Energie360, added: “Our investment in suena shows our confidence in a talented team of founders who are driving the energy transition with their innovative trading software. Their AI-powered solution is revolutionising the use of energy storage and strengthening our energy grid, exemplifying the positive impact of technology in the energy sector.“
“The seed funding marks a pivotal moment for suena,” said Miguel Wesselmann, CFO of suena. “It’s a testament to the confidence our investors have in our vision and technology. This investment will bring us closer to our goal of revolutionising the world of power trading to enable efficient energy storage operations. Working on this highly relevant topic, suena is in the middle of an exciting growth phase: the investment supports suena in expanding the team, bringing on board motivated and highly skilled talents who are passionate about driving the energy transition forward.”
