Drees & Sommer and other companies, such as BeyondBuild, Bauwens X and MOMENI, are providing growth capital to support the smart building specialist aedifion. The combined investment is a seven figure amount which will be used in the development of innovative software to improve the CO2 profile of existing properties and new buildings. The shared goal is to advance the decarbonization of real estate portfolios and minimize the risk of a loss of value resulting from climate change.
aedifion GmbH is based in the German city of Cologne and operates a cloud platform for the analysis and optimization of smart buildings. The intelligent AI-based software automatically analyzes and adjusts the operation of the building so that energy efficiency and comfort are increased, CO2 emissions are reduced and the operating costs are minimized.
Retrofit solutions like the solution offered by aedifion, which modernize existing installations, can be used immediately to slow down climate change. Real Estate is the only sector in Germany which last year failed to achieve the goals stipulated in the Climate Action Plan 2050. This means that the requirements for both existing buildings and new buildings will increase greatly in the next few years. The plug-and-play approach of the aedifion cloud platform automatically analyzes the technical operation of the building and permanently optimizes it. This solution can save several tons of CO2 per building per year and can pay for itself in just a few months.
Michael Bauer, Partner at Drees & Sommer SE and responsible for the equity investment, underlines the potential of cooperating with aedifion: ‘In every portfolio, a reduction of CO2 begins with an efficient collection of data and a systematic analysis and optimization of the existing technical installation systems. Then a rational decision can be made on what investments are necessary to implement a modernization or refurbishment strategy which will achieve further reductions. aedifion provides the relevant data as a basis for decision-making, and this is already used to benefit a number of the buildings and projects which are supported by Drees & Sommer.’
Drees & Sommer has a large network of startups. There are many possibilities to promote the topics of digital transformation and innovation together with startup enterprises, for example in discussions, joint pilot projects, development topics or in the form of investments and shareholdings. In the case of aedifion, the Innovation Center also carried out a standardized innovation due diligence process to review and support the long-term equity investment in advance.