British Gas leads £7m investment in telecoms and data centre efficiency
company 4energy
4energy, the innovative energy efficiency provider to global telecoms and data centre
businesses, has raised new investment from British Gas and existing investors
Environmental Technologies Fund, Carbon Trust and Catapult Venture Managers.
British Gas has led a growth funding round in innovative telecoms and data centre cooling
provider 4energy. Current investors Environmental Technologies Fund, Carbon Trust, and
Catapult also participated in the financing, which totalled £7m. British Gas and the other
investors now each hold a minority stake in the company. The investment will enable
4energy to accelerate its global roll-out of energy saving solutions to energy intensive datacentres and telecommunications infrastructure. British Gas will play a part in this expansion,
helping its data rich customers to better manage their energy by using 4energy’s solutions.
4energy will use the proceeds to increase its activities with its blue chip UK customer base
and build on its operations throughout Europe, China, India, Africa and North America.
4energy’s products and solutions reduce the cooling requirements for electronic data centre
and telecommunications equipment by up to 50%. Its comprehensive management software
and suite of hardware products enable customers to analyse their thermal footprints and
adjust air-flows and temperature gradients. Customers can use real-time data to improve
operations across a network of sites, save energy, and make space for new infrastructure by
removing excess cooling equipment.
‘British Gas is pleased to support another innovative UK business operating in a key sector
for energy efficiency,’ said Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas. ‘Data centre and
telecoms energy usage is increasing rapidly, and this investment will enable us to help our
customers to manage their energy more efficiently.’
4energy’s CEO and founder Pat Tindale agreed with British Gas, explaining, ‘This is a
tremendous opportunity for our team. We will be able to offer enhanced energy saving
solutions to more customers with British Gas’ strong support. They have an excellent
proposition for their UK corporate customers, and we believe we can enhance that
immediately.
Outside of the UK, our strong relationship with British Gas will give us
increased credibility on the international stage, as we seek to become a global leader.’
Robert Genieser, 4energy Chairman and Partner at the Environmental Technologies Fund,
said, ‘4energy has been a great success story, delivering both strong growth and large
environmental benefits. With British Gas on board, working with the strong management
team, there is so much more we can do.’
About British Gas
British Gas is Britain’s biggest energy supplier serving around 10 million homes and nearly 950,000
business sites across the UK. British Gas is also one of the largest installers of energy efficiency
products and last year installed over 400,000 insulation measures in its customers’ homes helping
them save energy and money. For more information visit www.britishgas.co.uk.
About 4energy
4energy is a leading provider of innovative cooling and energy efficiency hardware and software to
some of the largest global ICT businesses. Formed in 2005, 4energy operates in the UK, EMEA, India
and China. Headquartered in Nottingham, UK, the company has installed thousands of cooling
hardware solutions in Europe, SE Asia and Africa. Each day 4energy captures millions of pieces of
environmental data in ICT networks helping customers to understand, analyze and optimize their
energy usage involved in maintaining their technical building infrastructure. For further information,
please visit www.4energy.co.uk
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company with a mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon
economy.
It advises businesses, governments and the public sector on their opportunities in a sustainable, low
carbon world.
It measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organisations, supply chains and products.
It helps develop and deploy low carbon technologies and solutions, from energy efficiency to
renewable power. For further information please visit www.carbontrust.com
About Catapult Venture Managers
Catapult have specialised in the provision of growth equity capital to SME's since 1999. They are an
independent Fund Manager. Operating a number of discrete funds on behalf of a range of public and
private sector investors they have a total of £80m under management specialising in providing
growth equity capital, throughout the UK, of up to £2m. For further information, please visit
www.catapult-vm.co.uk