A tech company founded as a University of Edinburgh spinout has secured £10 million of investment to help boost energy security.
Exergy3 has raised the seed funding to scale its proprietary technology addressing three of Europe’s most pressing challenges – industrial decarbonisation, grid balancing and energy security.
The firm’s technology converts surplus renewable electricity – such as curtailed wind power – into high-temperature heat for industrial use, turning excess generation into a usable energy source rather than wasted supply.
“Exergy3 brings them together – turning surplus renewable power into reliable, low-cost heat for industry. That means lower emissions, lower energy costs, and a more resilient energy system. This funding allows us to move rapidly from pilot to commercial deployment.”
Industrial heat represents a significant share of global energy demand and emissions, yet remains structurally difficult to decarbonise due to its requirement for high, continuous temperatures across a wide range of processes. At the same time, increasing volumes of renewable electricity are curtailed as the system struggles to absorb generation in real time.
The seed funding round was led by Axeleo Capital. It was joined by Bavaria-based public venture capital investor Bayern Kapital and Singapore-based Kibo Invest, whose climate tech fund supports companies transforming industries and addressing urgent climate challenges.
Existing investors Scottish Enterprise, Zero Carbon Capital and Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund, also participated in the round.
Guillaume Sarlat, venture partner at Axeleo Capital, said: “Decarbonising heavy industry – accounting for over 20 per cent of global energy consumption and still largely fossil-based – is arguably one of today’s most compelling climate hardware venture capital opportunities in Europe.
“Exergy3 uniquely leverages curtailed and negatively-priced renewable electricity, storing it at ultra-high temperatures to deliver low-cost, zero-carbon heat to industrial customers.”
The funding marks a pivotal step in the company’s transition from demonstration to scale, following the successful delivery of its “first-of-a-kind” system and validation of the technology in real-world conditions. The capital will accelerate this next phase, scaling manufacturing capacity, expanding the team and enabling broad deployment across industrial sites.
The funding marks a pivotal step in the company’s transition from demonstration to scale, following the successful delivery of its “first-of-a-kind” system and validation of the technology in real-world conditions. The capital will accelerate this next phase, scaling manufacturing capacity, expanding the team and enabling broad deployment across industrial sites.
Exergy3 plans to double its headcount by the end of the year. It will also open a Munich office later this quarter as part of its expansion into Germany, establishing a strong European presence to capture growing demand across key industrial markets.
Monika Steger, managing director of Bayern Kapital, said: “The decarbonisation of industrial process heat is a key lever for the transformation of energy-intensive industries and at the same time a highly relevant growth market for climate tech in Europe. Exergy3 is developing a technologically promising solution at the intersection of energy, industry, and decarbonisation.
“As a VC [venture capital] investor, we see significant commercial potential here. The fact that Exergy3 intends to further develop its technological potential from Munich in the future also underlines Bavaria’s attractiveness as a location for industrial innovation.”