HYCUBE was founded in Mannheim, Germany in 2014. Its offering – which combines solar panels, proprietary high-tech battery storage, an electric vehicle "wallbox", proprietary smart home energy management software and ancillaries – enables customers to cut their grid electricity consumption by 80-90%. This substantially reduces energy bills while also mitigating carbon emissions from fossil fuel usage: early estimates suggest the business could be delivering annual carbon savings of approximately 12,000 tons by 2026.
HYCUBE is operating in a fast-growing market that is already worth almost €5bn in Germany alone, and is expected to almost double in the next five years. Clean energy currently enjoys widespread political and popular support in Germany; while the volatility in energy and gas prices is strengthening the argument for energy independence, making HYCUBE's system increasingly attractive from an economic point of view.
Bridges is backing the existing management team, led by CEO Rainer Appold, COO Nina Appold and CTO Holger Koch. The investment will enable HYCUBE to expand its provision to significantly more households in Germany, working directly with customers and through established installers.
Bridges' specialist impact management team will also work closely with the business to ensure impact management best practices are implemented across the business and its product lifecycle.
Rainer Appold, CEO of HYCUBE, said, "In seeking external investment, we really wanted to find a partner that could support our growth ambitions but would also share our commitment to sustainability and positive impact.
"So we were attracted both by Bridges' mission and values, which align closely with our own, and by its track record of helping companies like us to accelerate their growth. We are excited to work with the Bridges team to build HYCUBE over the next few years."
James Hurrell and Daniel Knight are leading the investment for Bridges. The Bridges Sustainable Growth Funds have now invested in a number of exciting growth business models that are supporting the transition to Net Zero, as part of Bridges' Sustainable Planet theme.
Recent examples include GEV, which provides maintenance services for wind turbines; Tier 1, a circular economy business that specialises in end-of-life IT assets; World of Books, which re-sells or recycles second-hand books; and Vegetarian Express, a specialist provider of plant-based ingredients and meal inspiration to caterers.
Daniel Knight, Investment Director at Bridges, said,"Getting to Net Zero requires us to decarbonize domestic energy usage while generating more energy off-grid. HYCUBE is perfectly placed to support this transition – and its offering meets the growing consumer demand for clean energy solutions that can reduce energy bills and carbon emissions.
"When we identified this as an attractive sector through our thematic analysis, Hycube stood out as a European market leader. We're really excited by the growth and impact opportunity the business has, and we look forward to working with the team to realise this potential."
