In a definitive move toward the algorithmic management of heavy real estate, xWatts has successfully closed a £1.6 million seed funding round. The investment, aimed at scaling its AI-native building automation platform, was led by Cambridge Enterprise Ventures, with significant participation from the Cambridge Angels, Parkwalk, and R42.
The injection of capital marks a transition for the London-based firm from a high-performance research spinout to a market-leading utility for complex, non-domestic portfolios. By targeting the “low-hanging fruit” of operational waste in healthcare, education, and manufacturing, xWatts is addressing the core of the global decarbonization challenge: the 30% of global electricity consumed by commercial buildings.
Engineering the “Active” Building
The funding formalizes the strategic leadership of Yigit Akar, CEO and Co-founder, and Alex Allen, Co-founder. Yigit Akar, an electronics engineer with a pedigree in large-scale renewable commissioning, and Alex Allen, a specialist in control systems and building energy simulation, met at the University of Cambridge with a shared vision to replace static energy monitoring with dynamic, autonomous control.
Unlike traditional reporting platforms, the xWatts solution connects directly to existing Building Management Systems (BMS). It creates real-time digital twins of facilities, allowing its AI to move beyond “insight” and into “action.” The platform autonomously manages HVAC, solar generation, and combined heat and power systems, balancing occupancy and weather data with real-time demand to eliminate waste without manual oversight.
The Founder’s Mandate
Reflecting on the milestone, Yigit Akar, CEO and Co-founder of xWatts, emphasized the firm’s commitment to scalable execution over mere data analysis:
“Our aim is to decarbonise complex real estate in an intelligent, automated, and scalable way. Rather than only providing insights, our platform actively manages energy systems. This funding supports continued product development and growth as we scale the business.”
With annual revenues reportedly tripling over the last two years, xWatts plans to utilize the new capital to deepen its presence in key European markets and expand its engineering team to meet the demands of increasingly complex industrial and healthcare estates.
Editor’s View
The significance of xWatts’ latest round lies in its pivot from the “observer” model of energy management to the “actor” model. For years, the real estate sector has been flooded with dashboards that tell managers they are wasting energy but fail to stop the waste in real-time. By appointing Yigit Akar and Alex Allen to lead this commercial expansion, xWatts is betting that the future of property management belongs to “hands-off” automation. This leadership duo brings a rare combination of heavy electrical engineering and computer science that is essential for bridging the gap between legacy building hardware and modern cloud intelligence.
From a strategic perspective, the backing of Cambridge Enterprise Ventures and Parkwalk provides xWatts with an institutional seal of approval that is critical when selling into high-stakes sectors like healthcare and higher education. These are environments where downtime is not an option and compliance is non-negotiable. As the UK and Europe tighten building efficiency regulations toward 2030, xWatts is positioned not just as a software provider, but as a “de-risking” agent for large-scale asset owners. Their ability to deliver a 20-40% reduction in carbon and cost within months—not years—makes them a uniquely high-growth prospect in the crowded climate-tech landscape.
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