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Energy startup Hometree gets £2.9m as it gears up for expansion

Hometree, which is seeking to change the way in which consumers buy a new boiler, has raised £2.9m in new funding as it looks to expand across the smart home space.

The London-based technology startup received cash from Literacy Capital, chaired by Paul Pindar, the former Capita CEO and chairman of Purplebricks and Eve Sleep.

Other new investors include former joint chief operating officer and board member of Capita, Dawn Marriott-Sims; and Anthony Gutman, head of UK at Goldman Sachs.

Hometree’s existing backers including DN Capital, LocalGlobe and Oxford Capital – which participated in its £1.9m Seed last year – also contributed to the round.

Founded in 2016 by Irish entrepreneur and engineer Simon Phelan, Hometree says it leverages technology to offer boiler installation at prices typically 35%-50% cheaper than traditional firms.

Phelan, the founder and CEO, commented on the round’s closure: “We’re thrilled that without even looking for new money we have attracted investment from some of the City’s most experienced investors and business leaders with exceptional operating experience at the highest levels. We have grown rapidly in our first trading year but this fresh injection of capital will enable us to scale faster than we anticipated.

“The business experience and knowledge Paul, Dawn, and Anthony bring to the business at this stage will be invaluable to us as we gear up for serious growth, potentially leading to a much larger fundraise later in the year.”

Hometree currently employs 25 full-time people and 50 freelance gas engineers. The firm is looking to increase its workforce by the end of the year.

The business is active in London and Essex and expects to begin installing boilers in key towns and cities throughout the South East, Southampton and Bristol throughout this Summer.

Dawn Marriott-Sims, chairman of Hometree, also commented on the news: “I’m incredibly excited to become Hometree’s chairman as the business starts to scale. Two important trends – energy infrastructure becoming more distributed and the internet of things – are converging in Hometree and Simon and the team rightly see the opportunity to build a business that is capable of challenging some of the biggest players in the energy market by creating a brand new home services model that more closely serves homeowners needs in today’s world.”

Phelan went on to note his company’s long-term potential: “Starting in boilers, a large established market compared to some of the more nascent smart home ones, gives us the opportunity to show how Hometree can offer all these services with the level of transparency and immediacy that those who use online services have come to expect.”

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