xWatts

xWatts is a cloud-based energy management software company that connects directly to the control and metering infrastructure of large, complex buildings and industrial facilities in order to reduce energy consumption, cost and carbon. The platform ingests historic and real-time data from building management systems, PLC/SCADA controls, energy meters and IoT sensors through IoT gateways using protocols such as BACnet, Modbus, OPC UA and MQTT, exposed via a REST API. It then models the facility and either issues day-ahead, hour-by-hour recommendations or directly automates the operation of generation and consumption assets, including HVAC, solar, storage and CHP engines.

The company positions its product in three configurations: xWatts Intelligence (insight and recommendations, including supply of energy monitoring sensors where data gaps exist), xWatts Automation (direct control, described as a "lightweight BMS" for sites without a full building management system) and xWatts Industrial (bespoke consultancy work for energy-intensive operations). It targets four verticals — education, healthcare, industrial production and commercial real estate — and states typical savings of 20–40% in kWh, cost and carbon, with a low end around 15% and lower results in residential assets such as purpose-built student accommodation. Savings are validated against a calibrated, physics-based baseline model normalised for weather and operating conditions, using a measurement and verification approach aligned with IPMVP and ASHRAE Guideline 14.

The company describes itself as engineering-led with an academic pedigree, and emphasises that it operates within pre-configured control-system parameters as a human-in-the-loop solution; if cloud connectivity is lost, systems revert to their pre-existing operating standard.

Founding story

Co-founders Yigit Akar (CEO) and Alexander "Alex" Allen (CPO) met at the University of Cambridge, where they researched energy optimisation and IoT technologies. Yigit completed a masters in Electronics Engineering and Renewable Energy in Turkey and worked with a German energy company commissioning large-scale wind and solar plants across Europe and Turkey before moving to the UK in 2018 for an MBA; he had previously founded a digital-health platform company that raised more than £140,000. Alex holds a masters in Computer Science, worked for over a decade in control systems on large infrastructure projects, and researched building energy simulations at Cambridge. Both had worked at large corporates on European energy challenges and were frustrated by the lack of innovation, speed and cost-effectiveness there, observing multi-million-dollar projects that missed low-cost energy reduction opportunities. They subsequently went through Antler's venture creation programme, where they validated the problem — commercial buildings with siloed systems, limited data availability and little automation — through research and interviews, leading to the founding of xWatts.

Business model

Enterprise B2B software. The Intelligence and Automation products are sold as SaaS with an annual subscription paid annually in advance on a three-year contract, priced by asset size or the number of data points ingested. Where additional sensors or hardware are needed to fill data gaps, these are charged as a one-off set-up fee and procured from external providers at no margin. The Industrial offering is bespoke consultancy priced according to the work required. A third-party profile describes a tiered pricing model starting at £500 per month.

Recurring annual SaaS subscription fees on multi-year contracts, plus one-off set-up fees for hardware and sensor installation and bespoke consultancy fees for industrial engagements. The company offers to run its solution free of charge until savings cover its cost if the cost is not met in the first 12 months.

Traction

The company reports aggregate validated results of 28.5% average kWh saved, 7,590 tonnes of CO2 saved and £1.5 million in cost savings. Named case studies include Greeneco Enerji's Denizli geothermal plant, where machine-learning forecasting increased annual energy generation by 5.62%, adding around $3.6 million in profit and displacing nearly 1,000 tonnes of CO2; Şenpiliç, where CHP-related energy use fell by over 5%, saving more than £500,000 a year and over £1 million across the first two years; and Salford Community Diagnostics Centre. As of mid-2024 the company had commercial and industrial clients in the UK and Turkey, with commercial projects realising energy reductions of up to 40% and industrial projects profitability increases of over 15%.

Latest developments

In February 2026 the company was reported to have closed a £1.6 million seed round led by Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, with participation from Cambridge Angels, Parkwalk and R42, to accelerate product development, strengthen AI-based energy optimisation and expand across key European markets.