Companion.energy Raises $8.5M for Real-Time Energy AI

Jan de Vries · 2026-06-08

A Belgian startup is taking the pain out of managing energy for big companies. Companion.energy, based in Ghent, just closed an $8.5 million Seed round. They help large industrial and commercial enterprises keep tabs on their energy use in real time. The money will go toward making their platform even smarter and expanding into Germany and Spain. ### The Big Picture Energy markets are getting wild. Prices that used to change seasonally now shift by the minute. Companies are adding solar panels, batteries, and EV chargers. But most still manage everything with spreadsheets and manual processes. That's like trying to fly a plane with a paper map. Dhruv Gupta from Pi Labs put it well: "Enterprise energy management is moving from static procurement and reporting toward 24/7 real-time optimization." He says Companion has built an AI platform that doesn't just recommend what to do—it actually executes decisions automatically.  ### What Companion.energy Actually Does The platform connects energy contracts, operational systems, and distributed assets into one system. It forecasts demand, models market exposure, and automates decisions around the clock. Think of it as a brain that coordinates everything from battery storage to solar panels to EV charging stations. Clients using the platform report cutting energy costs by 10-30%. That's huge for companies spending tens of millions on energy every year.  ### The Founders' Story Thomas Vyncke and Jonas Verstraeten started the company in 2022. They saw the energy transition coming and knew companies would need better tools. "We believed the energy transition would force every large industrial enterprise to manage energy actively," Jonas says. "The work of the next decade is to give those teams software that can keep up." ### Key Investors - **Realyze Ventures** (Germany) - Lead investor - **Pi Labs** (United Kingdom) - Co-lead - **Asterion Ventures** (France) - Participant - Existing investors also joined the round ### Real Results Companion.energy already serves over 30 enterprise customers across Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Big names like TotalEnergies, KPN, and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges use the platform. In the past year, the company grew its customer base and revenue ten times, passing $1.1 million in annual recurring revenue. They now manage more than 2 TWh of annual energy consumption and production. That represents about $550 million in energy spend and revenue. Their platform supports over 200 MW of distributed energy assets, including solar, wind, batteries, e-boilers, and EV charging infrastructure. ### Why This Matters for US Readers Even though this is a European startup, the challenges are universal. US companies face the same volatility in energy markets. The same shift toward renewables and electrification is happening here. Companion's approach—real-time optimization with AI—could easily apply to American factories, data centers, and commercial buildings. ### The Bottom Line Energy management is no longer a back-office function. It's a competitive advantage. Companion.energy is building the tools companies need to turn energy from a risk into an opportunity. With this new funding, they're poised to grow fast and make a real dent in how large enterprises handle their power.