British Gas has led a growth funding round in telecoms and data center cooling provider 4energy.

The firm has attracted a total of £7m in financing with British Gas and current investors Environmental Technologies Fund, Carbon Trust, and Catapult each taking a minority stake.

4energy will use the proceeds to increase its activities with its UK customer base and build operations in Europe, China, India, Africa and North America.
The company specialises in reducing cooling requirements for data center and telecommunications equipment which it says it can do by up to 50% through a combination of software and a hardware product suite to analyse thermal footprints and adjust air-flows and temperature gradients.

‘British Gas is pleased to support another innovative UK business operating in a key sector for energy efficiency,’ said Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas. ‘Data center and telecoms energy usage is increasing rapidly, and this investment will enable us to help our customers to manage their energy more efficiently.’ 

4energy’s CEO and founder Pat Tindale said: ‘This is a tremendous opportunity for our team. We will be able to offer enhanced energy saving solutions to more customers with British Gas’ strong support. Outside of the UK, our strong relationship with British Gas will give us increased credibility on the international stage, as we seek to become a global leader.’

British Gas will deploy 4energy solutions at  its own sites.
"Customers can use real-time data to improve operations across a network of sites, save energy, and make space for new infrastructure by removing excess cooling equipment," the firm said.