ABB has announced an investment in Montreal-based startup BrainBox AI as part of the firm?s strategy to make buildings smarter while improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.
Launched in 2019, BrainBox AI uses artificial intelligence to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions from Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in commercial buildings.
Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.
This investment and strategic engagement allow ABB?s Smart Buildings division to combine its existing portfolio of digital solutions, particularly the ABB Ability Building Ecosystem, with BrainBox AI?s predictive, self-adaptive and scalable cloud-based artificial intelligence.
ABB said that the joint offering is available from Q4 2021.
The company noted that HVAC systems account for most of the energy use and carbon footprint of a typical commercial building while buildings contribute 28 percent of total global energy-related CO2 emissions. ABB highlighted that BrainBox AI?s deep learning software enables up to 25% reductions in energy costs and 20?40% lower carbon emissions,
?Our core focus is on bringing radical change to new and existing buildings with safe, secure, smart and sustainable solutions,? said Oliver Iltisberger, president of ABB?s Smart Buildings division. ?I am confident that ABB?s investment in BrainBox AI, when combined with our ABB Ability Building Ecosystem, will help us leapfrog current approaches to digital transformation, further reduce energy costs and play our part in addressing climate change.?
?With its true autonomous artificial intelligence engine and its pure SaaS business model, BrainBox AI constitutes the epitome of the kind of investments we look for,” said Malin Carlstrom, Head of Ventures at ABB Electrification. ?The capital injected will be used for Brainbox AI?s continued and accelerated internationalization as well as for product and offering development.?
ABB is a Swiss-Swedish multinational corporation headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The company has four, customer-focused businesses: Electrification, Industrial Automation, Motion, and Robotics & Discrete Automation.
In a separate release, BrainBox AI announced a $24 million raise to further deploy its AI technology in the built environment and develop its next phase of innovation. The first close of its Series A round includes new lead investor ABB and investments by Esplanade Ventures and Desjardins Capital.
BrainBox AI offers predictive and self-adaptive artificial intelligence to optimize buildings? energy usage, carbon footprint, and operational efficiency. To date, BrainBox AI has transformed over 100 million square feet of building space across five continents.
