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.

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.