The German residential real estate technology platform says it will use the investment to deploy significant capital over the next 24 months to drive the green transition of Germany’s housing sector.
Reneo, the Hamburg-based residential real estate technology platform, has secured €600m to date from a range of investors to improve the energy-efficiency of Germany’s existing residential housing stock.
This includes €45m of equity financing from European investment funds Eurazeo, Lakestar and Foundamental, the family businesses Goldbeck and Bauwens and several business angels, including Stefan Wiskemann and Fabian and Ferry Heilemann. The funds were raised through a number of financing rounds with Lakestar leading the Series A financing round and Eurazeo the most recent Series B financing round.
In Germany, where more than half of residential real estate assets have poor energy efficiency with an EPC rating of E or lower, Reneo said it is seeking to capitalise on what it calls the brown-to-green opportunity by identifying and realising the ecological and economic potential of these assets.
Lennart Börner, founder and co-CEO of Reneo, said: “Reneo is the only player tackling decarbonisation with a holistic lens, turning climate challenges into investor opportunities. With Germany’s real estate sector ripe for transformation, we see immense potential to drive both climate impact and economic value.”
In parallel, the company has also announced the launch of an asset management and operating joint venture with Peakside Capital, an independent real estate investment manager, to deploy approximately €500m in debt and equity to retrofit and enhance the energy efficiency of multi-family buildings. In addition to reducing the carbon footprint and energy consumption of these homes, Reneo said it will convert under-utilised spaces in the buildings into modern and efficient living spaces to meet the country’s growing demand for housing.
This partnership comes on top of an existing senior financing arrangement the company has in place with Goldman Sachs.
End-to-end technology platform
The company said its Reneo Core System (RCS) is able to analyse an array of property data, and uses machine learning to identify the best transformation strategy for each asset within seconds. This includes factors such as energy savings potential, construction costs, government subsidies and associated economic uplift.
Reneo claims its RCS technology can achieve up to a 30%-60% reduction in energy consumption, significantly lowering operational costs for asset owners and tenants.
Boris Schran, partner at Peakside, said: “Real estate is one of the few remaining sectors where the challenge of decarbonisation and meeting net zero targets is yet to be fully addressed.”
Since 2020, Reneo said it has bought and sold over €500m of assets across its platform, with €200m invested in 2024, and planned to deploy significant capital over the next 24 months.
