Tado, a German smart home startup that specializes in thermostats and has lately expanded into flexible “time of use” energy tariffs based on load shifting technology, has announced the next step in its business existence. It will go public through a SPAC deal. GFJ ESG Acquisition, a German SPAC focused on sustainable technology, announced that it would merge with tado and float the merged business on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The PIPE transaction, which GFJ and tado are now working on, is estimated to value tado at €450 million ($514 million at today’s values) when completed. The new company will continue to known as tado.
Tado’s spokesperson said the company is not saying how much it plans to raise in the IPO or when it will happen, save that it will most likely be in the first half of 2022. The move comes on the heels of two major tado advancements. Last week, aWATTar (yes, the company styled its name) expanded from energy hardware to software in-house to better manage energy usage and costs based on both how Tado customers use energy and how they set prices. ) Has achieved. Depend on the fluctuations of the energy source (which may include renewable sources such as solar and wind as well as traditional channels).
Tado also raised $46 million in May. The company stated at the time that this would be its final round before going public, and that is exactly what is happening now. Amazon, Siemens, and Telefonica were among the impressive list of investors that contributed a total of $159 million to the company. According to PitchBook data, its valuation in those private rounds was roughly $255 million, far less than the €450 million it aims to attain with its market cap at listing. The purchase is significant because it will be one of Europe’s first major green tech businesses to go public.
Tado’s larger goal is to provide services that will help control energy use in an end-to-end system, beginning with the power grid and ending with users in their homes. So far, that business has taken two separate directions. It began as a manufacturer of smart thermostats, and it has now sold over 2 million units. The company then diversified into energy tariff and management, catapulting it into a larger business based on big data, predictive analytics, and exploiting the vast and fragmented renewable energy and energy hardware systems sectors.
Today, the firm claims to have sold over 2 million smart thermostats, and its energy-management system connects 400,000 buildings and families in 20 countries, managing more than 7 gigawatts of energy capacity. It claims that clients who use its load-balancing technology save an average of 22% on annual heating costs. It works with 18,000 systems from 900 OEMs. A new window of opportunity has opened up for green tech and cleantech companies as concerns about climate change become more pressing, and services for consumers to make choices to minimize carbon emissions become more freely available and inexpensive.
This listing demonstrates how one of them is now confident enough in its traction to take the risk of going public in order to go even further. Toon Bouten, CEO of tado, stated in a statement, “The entire team at tado is tremendously happy to link up with GFJ.” “We have similar convictions and a similar enthusiasm for sustainable technologies.” In addition, we are committed to working together to help our customers save money and lessen their environmental impact. We are in a terrific position to develop a more sustainable energy future if we work together.”
