Kingspan boss Murtagh takes a stake in Dundalk company Climote

Derek Roddy founder and CEO of Climote

Kingspan boss Gene Murtagh has taken a stake in Dundalk-based smarthome heating firm Climote, according to a report in today’s Irish Independent.

According to the paper it is understood that the valuation placed on Climote has doubled in the past two years.

Mr Murtagh is the latest heavy-hitter from the energy sector to invest in the business, which is based in Finnabair Industrial Park.

Last year, former Bord Gáis chief executive John Mullins took a stake in Climote, as did former Airtricity boss Ian Marchant. Mr Marchant invested around €100,000 and it’s believed that Mr Mullins invested about €300,000. Both are now advisers to Climote.

Mr Murtagh has stumped up €400,000 for his personal holding in Climote. Cavan-based Kingspan, a global insulation provider with revenue of €1.8bn last year, has already partnered with Climote in promoting smart energy solutions.

They recently worked together with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and Electric Ireland to equip 2,100 Co Louth social housing homes with Climote system.

Irishman Ross Finegan, a co-founder of London-based Lonsdale Capital Partners, has also just taken a stake in Climote. Lonsdale acquired Irish publisher CJ Fallon in 2013 and sold it earlier this year to US private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.

Filings for Climote show that both Mr Murtagh and Mr Finegan each paid just over €1,000 per ordinary share in Climote.

That compares to the €533 per share that was paid by investors who used a British Virgin Islands vehicle in 2013 to acquire a stake in the business.

Climote is a spin-off from a company called Smarthomes. Smarthomes was co-founded by businessman and former presidential candidate Sean Gallagher, and Derek Roddy.

Climote has won awards for its remote home heating control system. Householders have an electronic control panel fitted in their homes to replace existing thermostat. Users can then control their home heating from anywhere in the world, over a smartphone app, by SMS, or via a tablet or laptop for instance.

The premise is that householders can save money by more precisely controlling when their home heating and water heaters go on and off.

Dundalk company climote on trade mission to Scotland

Derek Roddy CEO of climote, Eamon Conway MD of climote, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Alex White T.D., Marina Donohoe Enterprise Ireland and Pat Bourne Ireland’s Consul General in Scotland. Picture credit: Grace Avery

climote, the leading home technology company headquartered in Dundalk, has returned from a trade mission in Scotland, which was led by Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Alex White TD.

Organised in co-operation with Enterprise Ireland, Eamon Conway, Managing Director of climote spoke at the event entitled “Low Carbon Scotland 2015”, which included a discussion forum on the topic “How smart technology will enable energy storage, carbon reduction and lower energy prices for Scottish customers.”

Last August, ScottishPower selected Dundalk-based climote to be its strategic connected homes partner, which has seen climote’s patented smart thermostat technology offered to the Scottish energy giant’s 5.6 million customers in the United Kingdom.

Commenting on the trip, Eamon said: “We were delighted to be invited to be part of the trade mission to Scotland which was led by Minister Alex White. Being part of the trade mission to Edinburgh has been a fantastic opportunity for us to meet existing and potential new clients. I believe the partnership between climote and ScottishPower is a great example of a successful commercial relationship between an Irish and Scottish company.

“Having created a product which enables users to adjust the temperature of their house and control their home heating from anywhere in the world using smart technology, climote is the perfect example of how technology can impact a variety of energy industry stakeholders including housing authorities, energy utilities, grid managers, energy, policy legislators and consumers.” Eamon said..

Founded in 2011, the rapidly growing climote is the brainchild of ex-Honeywell executive Eamon Conway and connected homes innovator Derek Roddy, who possess a wealth of knowledge and experience in the smart heating space.

Ex-CEOs of Bord Gáis and SSE announced as investors in Dundalk-based technology company climote

Derek Roddy CEO climote and Eamon Conway MD climote

climote, the leading home technology company which was recently described as the European competitor of Nest, has announced that both John Mullins and Ian Marchant, ex CEO’s of Bord Gáis and SSE respectively, have invested in the award winning home technology company. The two giants of the energy sector in Ireland and the United Kingdom have also been appointed to the advisory board of climote, which was named as a National Champion in the European Business Awards in early September. 

climote’s recently announced contract with ScottishPower has seen the home technology company going from strength to strength, as it builds upon the company’s existing partnerships with Electric Ireland (the retail arm of ESB) and Power NI. The partnership with ScottishPower, which climote won after a global tender of home technology companies, will see climote’s patented smart thermostat technology offered to the Scottish energy giant’s 5.6 million customers in the United Kingdom. 

The news that two of the most influential and well regarded people in the energy business have backed climote will further boost the Dundalk headquartered company’s credentials as a leader in the connected home space. Collectively over the past ten years, John Mullins and Ian Marchant were responsible for providing energy to eleven million out of the twenty nine million homes in Ireland and the United Kingdom and were responsible for a combined annual turnover exceeding €30bn.

One of the most experienced leaders and innovators in the Irish energy sector, John Mullins has over 25 years’ experience across all areas of the energy business. During his time as Chief Executive, Bord Gáis established a significant electricity business, renewable and conventional generation assets. John Mullins commented, “I am absolutely delighted to be supporting the climote team, and I look forward to working on growing climote’s market share, entering new markets and rolling out new and exciting products across different markets. The technology behind the climote HUB, which allows users to control their home heating from anywhere, via one touch programming is beautifully simple and extremely reliable. The deal with ScottishPower, which climote won after a global tender of home technology companies is proof for me that climote can take on the biggest players in the industry and succeed. The focus by climote on a utility partnership strategy is now evident with these strong partnerships.” 

“I have been using climote’s technology in my own home for many years now, so to be in a position where I will be part of the team driving climote forward is very exciting. Within the next few years, every home throughout Europe will be able to remotely manage their energy use and climote is well positioned to play a leading role in this industry-wide change.” continued Mullins. 

Ian Marchant, who is also joining the advisory board as well as investing in climote, has over 20 years’ experience in the energy sector, including a decade at the helm of SSE, the UK’s second largest energy company. Ian Marchant’s vast knowledge will be an incredible asset for the fast growing home technology company.

The rapidly growing climote is the brainchild of ex-Honeywell executive Eamon Conway and connected homes innovator Derek Roddy, who provide a wealth of knowledge and experience in the smart heating space. The duo have created a patented product which enables users to control their home heating and adjust the temperature from anywhere in the world, using smart technology. 

Eamon Conway, Managing Director of climote, commented on the announcement, “Following on from our recent ScottishPower announcement, we are extremely pleased to welcome both Ian Marchant and John Mullins on to climote’s advisory board. Both are renowned in the energy space and their acknowledgement and investment in the company is a hallmark for the product itself, as well as validation of our wider utility partnership strategy that focuses on partnering with utility companies to bring our technology to their customers. We look forward to working with Ian and John and hope it will be a long and fruitful partnership.” 

Dundalk company Climote win European Business Award

Derek Roddy founder and CEO of Climote

Local home technology company Cimote, described as the European competitor of Nest has been named as a National Champion in the European Business Awards 2014 / 2105, a major European award.

The European Business Award for the Dundalk headquartered company comes on the back of a recent major contract win with UK energy giant ScottishPower, after a global tender of home technology companies. Founded by Derek Roddy and Eamon Conway, Climote also has major partnerships with Electric Ireland and Power NI.

The European Business Awards now in its 8^th year engaged with over 24,000 business from 33 European countries this year and Irish technology company Climote have been named as National Champions; going through to the second phase of the competition.

According to Eamon Conway, Climote Managing Director “This is a great achievement for our growing team at climote and we are exceptionally proud to be able to represent Ireland as a National Champion at the European Business Awards. climote are already a multi-award winning company however this is the first time that we have been recognised on a pan-European basis.”

CEO Derek Roddy said “The Climote team continue to innovate with new and exciting products that are designed to revoluntionise how we use them. With the Climote HUB people are able to control their home heating from anywhere, via one click programme. The simplicity of this, added to the significant energy savings that homeowners can experience are the major factors behind our exceptional growth in all the markets that climote operate in.”

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards said: “Congratulations to Climote, it is a great achievement to be named National Champion and we wish them luck in the next stage. The European Business Awards is going from strength to strength, inspiring businesses to greater success and helping to improve the competitive edge of companies across Europe.”

Local firm beats Google to €10m contract

The Climote hub

Local start-up Climote have beaten Google in a David and Goliath-style battle for a coveted €10m contract, according to a report in today’s Irish Independent.

The Dundalk smart metering company was chosen over Nest, the business bought by Google for $3.2bn (€2.4bn) earlier this year, and 25 other companies for a lucrative contract with energy company Scottish Power.

Industry giants Siemens and Honeywell Global also competed.

The deal will see Climote supply its technology to Scottish Power’s 5.6 million UK customers.

This will allow the customers to control their heating remotely from anywhere in the world.

Once Scottish Power has installed Climote’s device, customers can control their heating via an app for iPhone or Android. For those with older phones, it can be controlled using text messages or a web page.

The deal is valued at a minimum of €10m in the medium term though this will depend on how quickly Scottish Power rolls out the technology.

Climote has already teamed up with Electric Ireland in the Republic and Power NI in the North to roll out its technology on the island of Ireland.

Climote is the brainchild of ex-Honeywell Ireland boss Eamon Conway and connected homes innovator Derek Roddy.

It was created as a spin-off of home technology company Smarthomes, which counted former presidential candidate Sean Gallagher as a director.