Energy startup Boldr raises £3.6m led by Unconventional Ventures with Ada Ventures
This article covers Boldr, an energy startup that has raised £3.6m in a seed funding round led by Unconventional Ventures. The funding will expand its contractor-focused platform to connect residential and light-commercial HVAC systems and other home energy assets to grid operators, supporting HVAC contractors and accelerating distributed flexibility.
Boldr, an energy startup, has raised £3.6m in a seed funding round led by Unconventional Ventures, with participation from Ada Ventures, Tetrad Ventures, Davidovs Venture Collective, Roxbury Asset Management, Inclimo Climate Tech Fund, Prosegur, Techstars, S20 Fund and strategic investors from the North American HVAC industry. The financing will be used to expand Boldr’s contractor-focused platform — which turns home heating, cooling, batteries, EV chargers and solar into flexible grid assets — and to move from ductless HVAC controls into residential and light-commercial central HVAC systems.
Why it matters
Electricity demand is rising as homes electrify, electric vehicle uptake grows and datacentres expand. Building new centralised capacity and transmission can take years, so finding flexible capacity that already exists inside buildings is increasingly important. Boldr’s approach taps HVAC contractors as the distribution channel to connect large numbers of residential assets to grid operators, potentially speeding up access to distributed flexibility without relying solely on new generation.
The deal signals investor appetite for technologies that convert common household equipment into grid services while offering contractors new revenue streams.
Inside the product
Boldr supplies smart thermostats and connected controls designed to be quick to install and compatible with a broad range of heating and cooling equipment. The company says its software gives contractors visibility across installed equipment, helping reduce service costs, detect faults earlier, and grow maintenance revenue by keeping contractors connected to customers throughout the lifetime of a home.
From a grid perspective, each connected system becomes a potential source of demand reduction, shifting or energy management that operators can call upon during peaks. Boldr’s immediate market focus is HVAC because heating and cooling are among the largest drivers of residential energy use in the United States. Nationwide distribution partnerships with HVAC brands and supply houses, including Bosch and Daikin, are intended to give Boldr access to established contractor channels.
The new capital will be used to broaden product coverage from ductless systems into central residential and light-commercial HVAC, accelerate product development, expand contractor partnerships and scale the contractor platform across North America.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Unconventional Ventures. Other participants included Ada Ventures, Tetrad Ventures, Davidovs Venture Collective, Roxbury Asset Management, Inclimo Climate Tech Fund, Prosegur, Techstars, S20 Fund and a group of strategic investors from the North American HVAC industry.
The mix of strategic HVAC backers and venture investors suggests the round is intended to accelerate both distribution and technical development: strategic partners can open contractor channels and provide market access, while venture funds supply growth capital for product expansion and scaling.
In the announcement, Alexis Horowitz-Burdick, Partner at Unconventional Ventures, said:
Boldr is attacking one of the most important infrastructure challenges of the next decade: how to add flexible capacity to the grid quickly, affordably and at massive scale. The team has identified HVAC contractors as a critical partner in the electrification of the home. By building technology that helps contractors serve customers better while creating a path to distributed grid capacity, Boldr is positioned to become a defining company in residential energy management.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of energy venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of energy angel investors in the UK
Founder perspective
In the announcement, Madi Ablyazov, Co-founder & CEO Boldr, said:
The next power plant won't be one building. It will be millions of homes working together. But you don't get there through a consumer app alone. You get there through the contractors who already install, service and replace the equipment that controls energy inside the home. Our job is to give them the technology to make that future possible.
Ablyazov’s emphasis on contractors underlines Boldr’s commercial strategy: rather than building a direct-to-consumer brand, the company aims to embed its hardware and software into the workflows of the professionals who already enter and service homes.
The bigger picture
Boldr’s model sits at the intersection of two persistent trends: electrification of buildings and the search for distributed flexibility to balance variable supply and demand. If successful, the approach could provide a low-cost route to aggregate capacity from millions of residential assets — a complement to, not a replacement for, conventional generation and network investment.
For investors, the bet is that contractor-led adoption will lower customer acquisition costs and speed deployment compared with consumer-facing alternatives. The partnerships with established HVAC brands are an acknowledgement that hardware distribution and installer trust remain central to adoption.
This funding round also reflects broader interest in residential energy management from both venture and strategic players. As grids in North America and Europe cope with higher peaks and faster electrification, technologies that mobilise distributed assets through professional installation channels are likely to attract further capital and policy attention.
They've invested in Boldr
Get to know these energy investors
| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Unconventional Ventures( ) Copenhagen, Denmark  | ||||
 Ada Ventures( ) This venture capital firm focuses on three key investment areas: Climate Equity,... London  | ||||
 Tetrad Ventures( ) | ||||
 Roxbury Asset Management( ) | ||||
 Inclimo Climate Tech Fund( ) Madrid, Spain | ||||
 Prosegur( ) Prosegur invests strategically in security technology, fintech infrastructure an... Madrid, Spain | ||||
 Techstars( ) Boulder, US  | ||||
 S20 Fund( ) | ||||
| All investors | All investor sectors | All funded startups | All funding rounds |
Click here for a full list of 7,589+ startup investors in the UK