Liverpool cleantech energy start-up Heatio has appointed Praetura Ventures’ Jess Jackson to the board.
Heatio was founded by entrepreneurs Simon Roberts and Thomas Farquhar to “innovate the domestic energy market” with their heat-as-a-service offering and Smart Home Energy System.
Jackson has been appointed as investment director with a view to supporting Heatio’s seed investment round and scaling the business in 2023.
Jackson is a previous North West Dealmaker of the Year, and former head of angel investment at the Growth Company’s early-stage investment vehicle, GC Angels. She has worked with over 30 early-stage startups in structuring and investing in their early-stage investment rounds. She is also a co-founder of Fund Her North, forging strong connections across the Northern funding ecosystem.
Jackson will serve as a non-executive director, bringing her wealth of experience in early-stage investment from her tenure at GC Angels and Praetura Ventures to the table to support in driving growth strategy.
Heatio hopes to unlock the roadmap to Net Zero for domestic properties through its in-development SaaS platform. Combining machine learning, smart meter data, discreet sensor technology and information modelling, the Smart Home Energy System will give consumers real data and precise costs, savings and specifications to make decisions upon. This in turn will drive uptake of low carbon technologies and energy efficiency improvements.
Heatio is partnering with E.ON to remove the barriers to wide-scale home decarbonisation with an initial focus on Heat Pumps and thereafter solar and battery storage. Strategically, it is pioneering Grid Services to provide homeowners with energy cost savings whilst balancing out the supply and demand issues on the national grid, which are expected to become increasingly prevalent as the UK progresses to Net Zero.
Heatio MD Roberts said: “Heatio has an ambitious growth strategy and future investment will allow us to accelerate our growth, expand our team, and invest further in our technology platforms. Jess brings a fresh and exciting approach, backed by unrivalled experience in our sector.”
Jackson added: “I have worked with Simon and Tom previously and know them to be excellent sector specialists – I was delighted to accept their offer to join the board and support their pre-seed round closing in early 2023. I have always enjoyed supporting strategy formation at the early stage of a business’s life, and I relish the opportunity to support Simon and Tom with theirs.”
