Tewke raises £1.5m pre-seed to cut household energy using sensor-rich retrofit switch
This article covers Tewke, a London-based proptech startup, which has closed a pre-seed funding round and raised £1.5m to expand its retrofit smart-home product and AI capabilities. The funding will be used to scale engineering and go-to-market activity for its Tap retrofit smart switch, targeting installers and homeowners to simplify installation and reduce household energy use.
Tewke, a London-based proptech company, has closed a pre-seed funding round and says it has raised £1.5m to expand its retrofit smart-home product and AI capabilities — a bet on making home energy management easier to install and cheaper to run. The round includes a mix of institutional and angel backers and will be used to grow engineering and go-to-market activity for Tap, the company’s sensor-rich smart switch.
Why it matters
Homes are one of the hardest places to decarbonise. Tewke’s product targets a practical problem for installers and homeowners: how to add intelligence and energy control without rewiring older properties. If Tap can deliver on straightforward installation and real-world energy savings, it addresses both consumer convenience and the broader policy push in the UK for residential energy efficiency. The deal also signals continued interest from proptech investors in devices that combine hardware design with AI-led software.
Inside the product
Tap is a wall-mounted smart switch designed to retrofit into UK homes that lack a neutral wire, which Tewke says makes it compatible with over 90% of the housing stock. It combines physical controls with nine onboard sensors to monitor movement, air quality and temperature, and pairs that telemetry with time-of-day tariff signals so households can shift consumption to lower-cost, lower-carbon periods.
Tewke develops its core stack in-house — patented hardware, firmware and its own Tewke OS — and positions Tap as more than a lighting control: the company describes it as a dynamic energy guide intended to reduce waste through contextual automation. The product debuted at CES 2025 and attracted a favourable review in T3 Magazine, which called Tap “quite probably the smartest light switch ever made.” Tewke also unveiled TewkeAI at Slush 2025 alongside Google, a contextual AI framework the company says will power future energy optimisation features.
The company lists several non-product milestones: B Corp certification, membership of the Made in Britain collective, and a Red Dot Award for Design Concept. Tewke also says it has received non-equity support from Innovate UK.
Who are the investors?
The round features a mix of specialist VCs and angel participation. Lead and participating investors named in the announcement include JamJar Investments, Cur8 Capital, Energy Mix Ventures and Project Ventures, alongside angel investor Vlad Yatsenko, co-founder and CTO of Revolut. Tewke also highlights Innovate UK support as part of its wider funding picture.
Investors’ rationale, as presented by the company, centres on several practical strengths: UK-based hardware and engineering, a retrofit product addressing a large addressable market, and a roadmap that layers AI and software on top of physical controls. JamJar is described as a leading UK consumer venture capital firm; Cur8 is presented as an emerging impact fund; Energy Mix Ventures and Project Ventures are named as specialist backers in the energy and hardware space. Vlad Yatsenko’s participation is singled out as notable angel support given his background at Revolut.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Piers Daniell, CEO of Tewke, said:
Having the backing of some of the UK’s most respected investors, including JamJar and a founder of one of Britain’s most successful tech companies, is a powerful validation of our team, our mission, and the product we’ve built. We’re not just optimising energy; we’re creating a more intelligent, sustainable and user-centred way of living.
In the announcement, Rowan Dixon, Co-founder, said:
Building next-generation electronics and AI in the UK has been a monumental technical challenge. Seeing people install Tap in minutes and start saving energy immediately is a powerful reward. This funding enables us to scale what we’ve proven works and double down on engineering excellence.
The company also notes governance and sector experience in its leadership: Daniell is a serial entrepreneur who previously built and exited Fluidata, and Sir James Wates chairs Tewke’s board.
The bigger picture
Tewke’s approach sits at the intersection of consumer hardware, home energy management and edge-plus-cloud AI — a combination that appeals to investors looking for defensible hardware-software stacks in the home. The retrofit angle is important in the UK context, where a large proportion of housing stock pre-dates modern wiring standards, and policymakers continue to push for measures that cut home energy demand and emissions.
For the UK and European proptech ecosystem, the round reflects ongoing appetite for startups that can combine local manufacturing credentials, design awards and demonstrable energy savings — especially when those products can be installed without specialist rewiring. How effectively Tewke turns early product praise and awards into distribution partnerships and measurable consumer savings will determine whether this investment delivers broader market traction.
They've invested in Tewke
Get to know these proptech investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 JamJar Investments | 6 investments investments | 4 contacts contacts | |||
 Cur8 Capital | 7 investments investments | 3 contacts contacts | |||
 Energy Mix Ventures | 1 investment investment | more info | |||
 Project Ventures | 1 investment investment | more info | |||
 Innovate UK Investor Partnership | 37 investments investments | more info |
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