Amsterdam-based BlueBird Power, a clean energy tech startup, announced on Thursday, June 1, that it has raised €350K in convertible loan from the Innovation Fund Noord-Holland (INH).
In a company statement translated from the Dutch, Bart Holthuizen, co-founder of BlueBird Power, says, “The investment from the Noord-Holland Innovation Fund will be used to develop and launch our Proof-of-Concept product.”
“Both at home and abroad, market-leading companies are excited to test our PoC. INH’s investment is crucial to take our business to the next phase where we can improve our services and roll out at scale,” he adds.
What does BlueBird Power offer?
BlueBird is at the crossroads of the mobility and energy transitions, developing hardware, firmware, cloud, and front-end software. It is a B2B2C firm that specialises in smart energy management in and around the house.
The startup believes that the energy system’s future will be sustainable, decentralised, and digital. Its products and services combine to form an integrated Home Energy Management System (HEMS) in which smart charging and discharging of electric vehicles is a key component.
BlueBird’s hardware and software create an Internet of Things (IoT) environment that contributes to the future. Its IoT solution guarantees 50 per cent cost savings thanks to a reliable hardware design.
The startup’s energy management services offer a more flexible energy system that uses less fossil energy and lowers clients’ energy costs. The end user can perform some of the installations and set up themselves as a straightforward hybrid installation procedure that goes along with it.
Through BlueBird’s services, data on residential energy usage and PV generation is made available in real-time and connected to smart algorithms, for instance, to optimise the (dis)charging of electric vehicles.
This gives energy system more flexibility, which lowers energy costs, speeds up the energy transition, and is essential for incorporating renewable energy sources like solar and wind energy.
The investor supporting BlueBird Power
The North Holland Innovation Fund is an initiative of the Province of North Holland, University of Amsterdam, Free University, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, and Sanquin.
Currently, INH manages two funds: a fund for innovative starters supported by the RVO, and a fund for academic starters supported by ERDF.
It offers loans from these funds to companies that need financing to prove new ideas and concepts, the so-called ‘Proof-of-Concept’ phase.
Wouter Keij, Fund Manager of INH, says, “BlueBird Power is developing an important innovation in the rapidly changing energy transition. The BlueBird Power solution can play an important role in the already more flexible energy system.”