$1.3 M Pre-Series A funding secured by Tunisian smart energy startup Wattnow

Wattnow, a Tunisian IoT smart energy management business, has secured a pre-Series A fundraising round of US $1.3 million to help it grow throughout Africa and the Middle East.

Wattnow, founded in 2018 by Issam Smaali, uses a mix of plug-and-play hardware and software solutions to assist businesses to gain control over their energy use. Companies can use the startup’s service to see their energy use in real-time, regulate and automate particular loads, and get alerts and messages when anything goes wrong.

The data collected by smart sensors is analysed using machine learning engines, and the results are displayed on a cloud-based dashboard, empowering businesses by providing thorough statistics and analytics on their energy use.

Wattnow plans to extend its client portfolio in additional African and Middle Eastern nations after maintaining exponential sales growth despite the epidemic and gaining clients such as merchants, telcos, and banks. A $1.3 million pre-Series A financing headed 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, together with Flat6Labs and Kepple Africa Ventures, was a prior investment in Wattnow.

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

“These funds will play a major role in helping us take Wattnow to the next level. As a 100 per cent Tunisian startup, the whole team is very proud to have been able to make it to this stage, and the best is yet to come,” Smaali said.

“In a world where energy costs are increasing week after week, Wattnow’s platform and technology have the potential to help businesses significantly reduce their energy bill but also their impact on the environment. We are very excited to support Issam and the Wattnow team in their exciting journey,” said Dhekra Khelifi, partner at 216 Capital.