Meet Verv Energy; the climate-tech company turning the invisible waste in HVAC systems into measurable savings. Verv Energy bridges the critical gap between legacy HVAC infrastructure and net-zero targets through their zero-disruption hardware and proprietary AI that gives operators predictive maintenance and granular energy insights out of the box.
Backed by an extensive €14m+ patented IP portfolio and selected by Innovate UK for US expansion, they’re scaling their AI hardware across an $87bn global market and gearing up for their next raise on Republic Europe.
We sat down with Verv Energy’s CEO James Dearsley, to discuss the scale of commercial HVAC waste, the power of micro-electrical AI, and what’s next as the company prepares for global expansion.
What inspired you to begin this mission to stop commercial HVAC waste?
We actually started in the domestic market and pivoted when we saw the huge opportunity a few years back. What really struck us was how little visibility businesses have over some of their most expensive and energy-intensive equipment.
Walk into almost any commercial building and you’ll find heating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems working away in the background. They’re essential to the operation of the building, often expensive to run and maintain (contributing to over 40% of all electrical expenditure from a building), yet in many cases the people responsible for them have remarkably little information about how they’re actually performing.
87% of buildings under 50,000sqft simply don’t have a Building Management System (BMS) — the technology used to monitor and control building equipment — because historically these systems have been too expensive or complicated to install.
We saw a huge opportunity to change that; especially given we had a retrofit light solution, that could be installed by a standard electrician.
Our founder, Peter Davies, developed the patented technology at the heart of Verv, and our mission has evolved into something much bigger than simply measuring electricity consumption.
We want to help businesses understand, manage and maintain their equipment more intelligently, reducing unnecessary energy consumption, avoiding costly failures and making better decisions about when expensive assets actually need replacing.
For me, what’s exciting is that solving a commercial problem can also deliver a genuinely positive environmental impact. It was something I was looking for having exited a previous business. I could see this was a possibility here too.
We are so excited to be supporting your fundraising campaign. What made you choose equity crowdfunding at this time to raise investment for your Verv Energy?
Firstly, this is all part of a larger equity round. We have existing investors (both angel and Venture Capital) who are following on their existing investments. This crowdfund will be at the same terms and we wanted to open it up to our small investors too (and some new ones if they wanted to come in).
Secondly, timing is everything, and I think Verv is at a particularly exciting stage of its development.
We’ve spent years building our technology, protecting our intellectual property, validating its capabilities and demonstrating that the problems we’re solving are very real.
We’re now seeing that work translate into commercial momentum, with £1.8 million in forward contracted revenue, growing engagement with major organisations and opportunities to deploy our technology across increasingly large building portfolios.
We’ve also made a deliberate effort to fund our research and development through non-dilutive sources wherever possible, including securing a £1.89 million Innovate UK Innovation Loan. This was a momentous milestone for the business, as so few are awarded.
That means we’ve been able to support important technology development without relying exclusively on issuing new shares.
The next stage is about scaling the business commercially: accelerating deployments, strengthening our delivery capabilities and expanding into new markets.
Equity crowdfunding feels like a natural fit because it allows us to invite a broader community to participate in our growth.
I also think there’s something particularly appealing about building a shareholder community around a business whose mission combines commercial efficiency with reducing the environmental impact of buildings.
How have you funded the business so far and how have you used that funding?
We’ve taken a blended approach to funding Verv, combining private investment, commercial income, licensing activity and innovation debt funding.
Importantly, we’ve always tried to match the right type of funding to the right activity.
Building proprietary hardware and developing advanced analytical technology requires considerable research and development. Rather than relying entirely on shareholder capital, we’ve actively pursued opportunities to support that work through innovation programmes.
Our successful application for a £1.89 million Innovate UK Innovation Loan is a significant example of that strategy.
The loan supports research into using sophisticated electrical analysis to improve monitoring of HVAC and refrigeration equipment, including work relating to refrigerant leaks and refrigerant levels.
It’s an important distinction that this is a repayable loan (with very favourable terms), rather than a grant, and it has enabled us to secure dedicated R&D funding without issuing additional equity.
Alongside this, investment and commercial revenues have supported the development of our patented hardware, software platform, analytical capabilities and commercial operations.
Our philosophy is that capital should be deployed intelligently. We want to continue investing in meaningful innovation while building a commercially sustainable business that can scale.
How would you define the market opportunity for Verv Energy, and in your opinion how do you stand out from competitors?
I think the opportunity is enormous, largely because the built environment has been underserved by technology for far too long.
The global HVAC maintenance services market alone was valued at approximately $87 billion in 2025, according to Grand View Research, and is forecast to grow substantially over the coming years.
But the opportunity goes well beyond conventional maintenance.
Many commercial buildings lack sophisticated monitoring and control systems (87% of buildings under 50,000sqft lack any form of Building Management System BMS for example). That means businesses are wasting energy, maintaining equipment reactively and making major capital expenditure decisions without sufficiently detailed information.
Imagine operating hundreds of properties, each containing expensive air conditioning systems. How do you know which equipment is working efficiently, which is beginning to deteriorate and which actually needs replacing?
We believe this is where Verv stands apart.
Our patented hardware (our competitors are mostly SaaS businesses that need the BMS to give them insights) can be installed quickly and with minimal disruption, allowing us to capture detailed electrical information without requiring expensive building infrastructure upgrades.
We then use advanced analytics and AI to translate that data into actionable insights.
Our approach is built around three principles: Measure, Manage and Maintain.
We’re not simply trying to tell customers how much electricity they’re using. We want to help them understand their equipment, improve its performance and make better decisions throughout its lifecycle.
That combination of proprietary sensing technology, intelligent software and relatively straightforward installation gives us a compelling proposition for businesses operating multiple commercial buildings.
Talk us through your team – how have you built your team so far, and what key hires are you planning to make in the near future?
Talent is arguably the hardest element of scaling Verv! As CEO I have been here for three years now and we have a great team developing. Given our recent explosive growth, we have just hired a new CFO to help us navigate this next stage. Sev Gunes-Lasnet joined us from PWC, and before that an aerospace engineer with the European Space Agency.
As you can see from Sev’s appointment, we need people who understand the science, but we also need people who can turn that innovation into a product customers genuinely want to buy.
We’ve been fortunate to build a team that combines those capabilities.
Our founder and Chairman, Peter Davies, is the inventor behind our core technology and has an extensive background in innovation and intellectual property, including 13 patents.
My role has been increasingly focused on taking that technology into the market, developing strategic commercial relationships and building the foundations for growth.
Around us, we’ve built expertise across product development, data science, operations, finance and commercial growth.
James Strickland leads our project and product delivery work, an expert in hardware and firmware scalability. He previously scaled the FreeSat TV box and so is particularly well positioned to help us scale in that area.
As we scale, the next priority is strengthening the parts of the business that allow us to serve more customers successfully.
That means additional capability in commercial sales, customer delivery and technical deployment, as well as continued investment in software and analytical expertise.
For me, the objective isn’t simply to build a bigger team. It’s to build the right team to turn a technically sophisticated product into a scalable international business.
You must be thrilled at the traction you’ve seen so far. What’s been your proudest achievement?
There have been several moments over the past year that have made me incredibly proud.
We’ve seen continued commercial progress, including work with the NHS, opportunities with major retail operators such as Majestic Wine, and a project with a globally recognised fast-food chain.
We’ve also secured approximately £1.8 million in forward contracted revenue, which is an important milestone in demonstrating commercial demand.
But if I had to pick one standout achievement, it would be our progress with Amazon.
We were selected as one of just ten companies to join the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator’s Climate Tech programme out of nearly 1,000 applications.
For a UK climate technology business (we were the only ones from the UK incidentally), being given the opportunity to engage with an organisation of Amazon’s scale is significant in itself.
What made it even more exciting was subsequently being selected to progress to paid pilot projects with Amazon.
That represents an opportunity to demonstrate what our technology can do in a demanding real-world environment, working alongside a business with an extraordinary operational footprint.
For the whole Verv team, it’s been an incredible validation of the progress we’ve made and the potential of what we’re building.
What are you most excited about for the next six months at Verv Energy?
For me, the next six months are really about turning momentum into scale.
We’ve reached a stage where we’re increasingly working with organisations that manage significant property portfolios, and that creates the potential to move from individual installations and pilot projects to much broader deployments.
I’m particularly excited about progressing our paid pilot work with Amazon, continuing our relationship with the NHS, and developing opportunities with Majestic Wine and other commercial customers.
Each of these provides the opportunity to demonstrate the technology in different operating environments and build the evidence needed to support further adoption.
We’re also looking increasingly towards international expansion.
Our acceptance onto Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme, supporting our US expansion ambitions, is another exciting development. It gives us an opportunity to strengthen our understanding of the American market and develop the relationships needed to establish a meaningful presence there.
On the technology side, we’re continuing our research into advanced equipment monitoring, including applications relating to refrigerant leaks, predictive maintenance and equipment lifecycle planning.
But above everything else, what excites me is the opportunity to see more customers using Verv in their everyday operations.
We’ve invested considerable time and effort into developing the technology. Now we’re focused on demonstrating its value, building recurring commercial relationships and establishing Verv as an important part of how commercial buildings are managed in the future.
Join Verv Energy on Their Next Stage of Growth
Verv Energy is opening its doors to new and existing investors as part of its wider equity round on Republic Europe. Backed by £1.8m in forward contracted revenue, validation from major commercial partners like Amazon and the NHS, and an intellectual property portfolio valued at over €14m, the team is set to accelerate commercial deployments across the UK and enter the US market.