Maven invests GBP2m in PropTech specialist Guru Systems

Submitted 17/06/2021 - 3:51pm

Maven Capital Partners (Maven), one of the UK’s most active investors in growth businesses, has invested GBP2 million in London-based Guru Systems (Guru). 

Guru is a trusted supplier of B2B IoT hardware, software, and analytics solutions to energy companies, house builders, developers and housing associations looking to reduce their carbon footprint and operating costs, meet their regulatory obligations, and deliver the most efficient and cost-effective service to their own customers.

This is Maven’s sixth VCT-funded transaction of 2021 and will support Guru’s investment in sales and marketing resource, as well as the development and roll-out of new software and hardware products for heat networks and adjacent markets.

Guru’s carbon saving monitoring technology has been developed to initially focus on heat networks where heat generation is centralised and supplied to consumers via a network of underground pipes carrying hot water. These networks avoid the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building and are one of one the most cost-effective ways of reducing carbon emissions from heating. Their efficiency and carbon-saving potential is expected to increase as they cover more properties, become interconnected, and increasingly utilise large scale heat pumps as well as combined heat and power plants, and heat recovered from industry and waste.

Domestic heating alone accounts for 13 per cent of the UK’s annual emissions footprint, which is comparable to the contribution of all petrol and diesel cars on UK roads, and low carbon heat networks are a fundamental part of the UK’s decarbonisation strategy. The Committee on Climate Change expects the proportion of UK heating delivered via heat networks to rise from 2 per cent to at least 20 per cent by 2050.

Guru’s hardware can be fitted to new-build developments or retrofitted to capture data from existing heat networks and other onsite energy systems. Its software then uses AI-driven analytics to provide complete visibility over the system from a bird’s eye view all the way down to the performance in each individual dwelling. This helps its client’s identity performance issues, improve efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions.

David Milroy, Partner at Maven Capital Partners, says: “Guru represents an exciting opportunity for our VCTs to invest in a trusted supplier of carbon saving IoT technology. As a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, residential heating presents one of the greatest challenges in global and UK efforts to achieve net-zero emission. Heat networks have a major role to play but, like standalone domestic boilers, they can be hampered by inefficiency. This makes Guru’s sophisticated monitoring and AI-driven analytics technology very attractive to developers and operators as they strive to build efficient and cost-effective heating systems.

"We look forward to supporting the Guru team and helping them fulfil their growth aspirations.”

Casey Cole, CEO at Guru, says: “Maven’s investment in Guru Systems enables us to capitalise on the significant growth of low carbon heating in the UK and beyond. Our technology supports both the digitalisation and decarbonisation of heat, two of the biggest challenges we face in the transition to a net-zero emissions future. For our clients, the housing associations, local authorities and private developers who build and manage residential developments, our technology allows them to make their energy systems more transparent, lower cost and lower carbon. We’re delighted to be working with Maven as we look to grow the team and accelerate our revenue growth."

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