Tunisian smart energy startup, Wattnow secures $1.3m in pre-Series A funding

Wattnow, a Tunisian startup that provides IoT smart energy management solutions, has raised a pre-Series A funding round of US$1.3 million to help it expand across Africa and the Middle East.

Wattnow, founded in 2018 by Issam Smaali, assists businesses in gaining control of their energy usage through the use of plug-and-play hardware and software solutions. The service provided by the startup allows businesses to visualize their energy usage in real time, control and automate specific loads, and receive alerts and notifications when something goes wrong.

The data collected by smart sensors is analyzed by machine learning engines, and the insights are made available on a cloud-based dashboard, empowering businesses by providing access to detailed reports and analytics on their energy usage.

Wattnow plans to expand its client portfolio in other African and Middle Eastern countries after maintaining exponential sales growth despite the pandemic and securing customers such as retailers, telecoms, and banks. A US$1.3 million pre-Series A round led by Katapult Climate, a Norwegian climate impact fund, and local venture capital firm 216 Capital will fund this. It also includes Launch Africa Ventures, Cross Boundary, and the Oman Technology Fund, the latter of which, along with Flat6Labs and Kepple Africa Ventures, was a previous investor in Wattnow.

Wattnow has already begun sizing up the Moroccan and Saudi markets and forming partnerships for deployment as part of Plug and Play Morocco and Plug and Play Middle East’s T5 SDAIA Smart Cities Accelerator.

“These funds will be critical in assisting us in taking Wattnow to the next level.” “As a 100% Tunisian startup, the entire team is very proud to have made it this far, and the best is yet to come,” Smaali said.

“In a world where energy costs are rising by the week, Wattnow’s platform and technology have the potential to help businesses not only reduce their energy bills but also their environmental impact.” “We are thrilled to be able to assist Issam and the Wattnow team on their exciting journey,” said Dhekra Khelifi, partner at 216 Capital.