1Komma5 Welcomes Sabanci Investor, Further Extends €150 Million Pre-IPO Round

• German cleantech unicorn 1Komma5 has added Sabanci Climate Ventures to its €150 million pre-IPO round, boosting capital for its Heartbeat AI energy platform.

Hamburg-based home-electrification specialist 1Komma5° has expanded the €150 million funding package it first closed in December 2024 by bringing Sabanci Climate Ventures on board as a new backer. The climate-tech investment arm of Turkey’s Sabanci Group joins a roster that already includes Hamilton Lane, CalSTRS, Porsche Ventures, Eurazeo and G2VP, pushing the unicorn’s total equity haul to nearly €400 million while keeping the company debt-free. 

Management says the fresh capital will be channelled into Heartbeat AI, the firm’s cloud-based energy-management platform that links rooftop solar, batteries, heat pumps and electric-vehicle chargers into a single virtual power plant. Heartbeat already orchestrates more than 500 MW of flexible capacity across some 120,000 European and Australian households—making it, by the company’s count, the continent’s largest residential VPP. 

Between 2025 and 2027, 1Komma5 intends to invest over €100 million in software engineering, machine-learning tools and customer acquisition to position Heartbeat as a low-cost alternative to traditional utilities. The ultimate aim is to allow homeowners to buy power directly from wholesale markets while exporting surplus solar generation at the most favourable times of day. 

For Sabanci Climate Ventures, which launched its €205 million fund last year, the deal marks a first step into Europe’s fast-growing distributed-energy market. The Turkish conglomerate’s climate arm focuses on technologies that can cut at least 100 megatonnes of CO₂ by 2035; 1Komma5 ticks that box by targeting household electrification at scale.

Why it matters

• Strategic fire-power: Extra funds arrive just months before 1Komma5’s planned IPO, giving the startup balance-sheet headroom to outpace rivals such as Enpal and Solarwatt.

• Grid relief: Virtual power plants like Heartbeat help smooth supply-demand swings, a pressing need as Europe phases out coal and ramps up intermittent renewables.

• Cross-border push: The company has grown to 2,500 employees and operates in ten countries; new capital will finance bolt-on acquisitions in Spain, Italy and Poland.

With Sabanci on board, 1Komma5 says it remains on track for a late-2026 listing, even as European tech markets remain volatile. “Our mission is to make clean electricity cheaper than fossil power for millions of households,” founder Philipp Schröder said. “This investment brings us closer to that goal.”