Cloud and AI efficiency startup Greenpixie has raised £4.7m in a pre-Series A round to help the world’s largest companies cut millions of pounds in wasted IT spend.
Greenpixie was founded in 2021 to champion environmental responsibility in the cloud industry and provides customers with industry-leading emissions data.
The investment in the London-based company was led by VERBUND X Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of one of Europe’s largest renewable electricity producers.
Octopus Ventures, Armajaro Holdings and Green Angel Ventures also participated in the round.
Greenpixie has grown its team to 18 employees but plans to hire more staff as it expands globally.
Data centres are responsible for up to 6 per cent of electricity consumption in the UK and US, with demand soaring as a result of the accelerated uptake of AI.
It is estimated that around a third of enterprise cloud use is wasted each year due to a lack of visibility for decision-makers, with global spend forecast to rise to more than $1tn.
Greenpixie works with Fortune 1000 companies such as Mastercard to enable them to make sustainable decisions around cloud infrastructure and large-scale AI deployment, resulting in significant savings in carbon, water and cost while still pursuing growth.
By integrating with major cloud providers, Greenpixie’s proprietary technology helps IT teams terminate ‘zombie’ resources, optimise for purpose, including AI model use, and select low-carbon regions.
This effectively enables software engineers to significantly reduce emissions from behind their laptops.
John Ridd, CEO and co-founder, says: “Efficient use of cloud and AI is possible when the right culture and tooling is embraced.
“With Greenpixie’s high fidelity sustainability data enterprises can maximise the full potential of their intelligence. This funding will enable us to accelerate our mission and continue our global reach in these pivotal times.”
Michael Strugl, CEO of VERBUND AG, says: “Greenpixie addresses a structural customer problem in a high-growth market. The rapid validation among international customers and the savings achieved underscore the solution’s scaling potential.”
Luke Edis, partner at Octopus Ventures, added: “Greenpixie sits at the intersection of rapid AI growth and the urgent need to decrease the energy usage and environmental impact of cloud computing.
“By giving enterprises real-time visibility, the team is turning sustainability into a driver of performance and cost efficiency. We’re excited to support them as they scale a category-defining platform for more responsible growth.”
VERBUND is Austria’s leading energy company and one of the largest producers of hydroelectricity in Europe.
The group generates around 95 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy, primarily from hydropower.
Octopus Ventures is part of Octopus Group, a pan-European venture capital team investing in the people, ideas and industries that will change the world.