- 28
- August
2014
Josef Brunner tells the growth story of JouleX and his successful exit to Cisco
Ecosummit TV: Serial entrepreneur Josef Brunner tells the growth story of JouleX and his successful $107M cash exit to Cisco in 2013. Josef founded JouleX in Munich in 2009 and was backed by Target Partners from early on. Being a 100% energy management software startup that helps companies save OPEX by switching off unused IP devices, Josef and Olaf Jacobi, his board member at Target Partners, quickly decided that the headquarter should be transferred to the US while keeping the software development team in Germany. As a US company it is easier to sell to American customers, raise more money for faster startup development and ultimately sell to an American buyer. Tom Noonan, Co-Founder of Internet Security Systems that he sold to IBM in 2006, invested in JouleX and joined as CEO in 2010. From there it was all about managing fast growth and winning new customers that enjoy instant savings without setup fees while JouleX enjoys a 30% share of the money saved. Josef appreciates the professional integration processes at Cisco who are very experienced buyers due to a long history of successful acquisitions – JouleX was Cisco’s acquisition number 166. Now you may talk to Josef if you need a smart green software business angel.
Read more- 16
- February
2014
Enernoc buys Entelios – did this cleantech exit happen too fast?
On 14 February 2014, Enernoc buys Entelios, Germany’s demand response pioneer. The Munich-based startup was founded in July 2010 by serial entrepreneurs Oliver Stahl, Tom Schulz and Stephan Lindner. With a holding period of 3 years since the first VC investment this is definitely a fast cleantech exit. But this exit may have happened too fast given that demand response is the killer app of the smart grid, a massive global market opportunity and a capital efficient option to accelerate the Energiewende (energy transition). In the end, smart demand wins over stupid supply even though it is hard to convince all market participants. And before we forget: congratulations to the Entelios team.
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