ABB invests in climate tech start-up Tallarna

ABB is entering into a strategic partnership with Tallarna , a UK-based climate tech start-up, to grow its portfolio of user-friendly energy management technologies. Using AI-powered data analytics, Tallarna has created an innovative approach to decarbonization projects for large property portfolios and energy infrastructure. On a single platform, customers are shown the viability of energy optimization solutions alongside the availability of performance insurance and third-party finance.

The partnership involves a minority investment in Tallarna through ABB’s venture capital unit, ABB Technology Ventures (ATV). Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

Tallarna’s data analytics identify decarbonization projects and scope their savings and risk. The company’s software is integrated with the related underwriting processes of AmTrust Financial, a global specialty insurer, rated A- by AM Best. Guaranteed energy savings are used to deliver long-term, efficient finance through Tallarna’s platform and repay project costs.

“Companies are looking for investments that will deliver clean energy, cost savings and additional resilience,” said Giampiero Frisio, President, Smart Power Division at ABB. “To enable organizations to deliver on their sustainability commitments, we need technology that furnishes decision makers with clear priorities, simpler funding models involving financial institutions, and shorter time to access to the capital with better confidence about financial returns and operating costs. We will work with Tallarna to develop their technology’s capabilities for industrial applications.”

“We founded Tallarna to accelerate decarbonization in the built environment, supporting the whole value chain from funders to end users,” said Tim Meanock, CEO and co-founder of Tallarna. “Our software makes large-scale decarbonization financially executable by translating technical risks into financial ones – turning optimization projects into financial assets for funders. Working with ABB will provide us with valuable industry insights and enhanced digital capabilities that will empower commercial and industrial organizations.”

The partnership is ABB’s 10th venture capital investment of 2022 and helps expand the company’s ecosystem of innovation partners developing solutions that support decarbonization. Since its formation in 2009, ATV has invested around $300 million in start-ups that are synergetic with its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio.

Tallarna was a winner of ABB Electrification’s 2021 Startup Challenge, a global competition for innovators to address the complex sustainability challenges faced by commercial buildings and industrial power applications. Under the partnership, ABB and Tallarna have created an assessment tool for ABB Ability™ Energy Manager users, which tracks actual consumption against energy targets and benchmarks performance against a set of relevant peers.