What heata does

heata (legally Bit Warmer Ltd) is a UK private company, incorporated in England and Wales and headquartered in Godalming, that operates a distributed cloud compute network by installing compact compute servers — branded as the heata unit — in residential homes, attached to domestic hot water cylinders. Each unit performs compute work as part of a load-balanced network, and the waste heat generated is captured and transferred into the household's hot water supply, delivering up to 4.8 kWh of hot water per day (~80% of an average UK household's needs) and saving households an estimated £340 per year on hot water bills. The core technology stack is built on the SUSE Secure Edge Platform, with VPN-based connectivity, TPM authentication, LUKS/AES-256 encrypted local storage, and integration with the open source Bacalhau distributed compute platform via Expanso, enabling Docker, WASM, and V-Ray .vrscene workloads to run across the network.

The company's commercial offering comprises three primary services: cloud compute services (CI/CD runners, CFD, FEA, climate modelling, medical research) delivered via usage-based pricing; 3D rendering services targeted at architectural visualisation and animation studios; and housing services aimed at housing providers and social landlords, where units support EPC rating improvements of 4-8 points. Go-to-market combines a self-serve CLI/API layer for compute workloads with enterprise field sales and channel partnerships with housing groups, social landlords, and developers such as Sero Homes and British Gas. Revenue mechanics are usage-based for compute and rendering, with subscription/recurring arrangements noted for enterprise rendering contracts; pricing is quote-based rather than publicly disclosed, and hosted households receive electricity credits at 10% above market rate.

Founded in 2017, heata has raised approximately £1 million in seed funding (September 2023) led by Civo with Green Angel Syndicate and British Gas (Centrica), supplemented by an Innovate UK Smart Grant in partnership with Sero Homes (May 2022) for a 100-home pilot. The network currently extends to roughly 100 homes and is supported by a small team (1-10 employees). Strategic backers and partners include Centrica/British Gas, Sustainable Ventures, Civo, Green Angel Syndicate, SUSE, Expanso (Bacalhau), Microsoft (MAIDAP hackathon), and South of Scotland Enterprise, with named customers including F10 Studios, Model Works, Victoria Model Works, Landsec, and Equal Experts.

Name

heata

Legal name

Bit Warmer Ltd

Website

https://heata.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

heata operates a distributed cloud compute network by placing servers in residential homes, reusing their waste heat to provide free hot water while delivering sustainable batch compute and 3D rendering services to enterprises and architectural visualisation studios.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Distributed Cloud Computing

NAICS

Steam and Air-Conditioning Supply (22133), Power Boiler and Heat Exchanger Manufacturing (33241), Heating Equipment (except Warm Air Furnaces) Manufacturing (333414)

SIC

Cogeneration Services & Small Power Producers (4991), Heating Equipment, Except Electric & Warm Air Furnaces (3433)

akta.pro primary industry

Waste Heat Recovery & Heat Integration (HRSG/ORC, Pinch Analysis, Heat Exchangers) (EUABAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cooling & Thermal Solutions (Air/Liquid, fans, thermal paste) (HDACAGAF), Onsite Low-Carbon Heat & CHP (Electrified CHP, Fuel Cells, Renewable CHP) (EUABAJAI), Heat Exchangers & Thermal Transfer Equipment (IMAHAKAC), District Heating & Cooling Thermal Storage (Network-Integrated TES) (EUAFANAH)

Keywords

• Distributed cloud compute
• 3D rendering services
• Waste heat recovery
• Carbon-aware computing
• Housing retrofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Godalming

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Cloud Compute Services: Providing sustainable batch compute services to companies. Compute workloads (CI/CD, general batch processing) are processed on the distributed network of heata units in homes. Customers reduce their compute carbon footprint while supporting fuel poverty alleviation.
2. 3D Rendering Services: Cloud rendering services for architectural visualization and animation studios using V-Ray. Customers pay for render processing time while receiving social/environmental impact benefits.
3. Enterprise Rendering Contracts: Direct enterprise relationships with architecture firms and developers (e.g., Landsec projects) for dedicated rendering capacity with sustainability benefits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

heata operates a distributed cloud compute network by installing compact compute servers (heata units) in residential homes, attached to domestic hot water cylinders. The waste heat generated from data processing is captured and transferred to provide free hot water to households, reducing the compute carbon footprint by approximately 40% versus traditional data centres while addressing fuel poverty. Customers access the network for batch compute workloads (CI/CD, CFD, FEA, climate modelling) and 3D rendering of V-Ray scenes.

Product overview

Heata operates a distributed cloud compute network using compact servers (heata units) installed in residential homes, attached to domestic hot water cylinders. The network reuses waste heat from compute processing to provide free hot water to households. The product portfolio consists of the core heata unit hardware, supported by three service offerings: Cloud Compute Services for batch workloads (CI/CD, modelling, research), 3D Rendering services for architectural visualisation and animation studios, and Housing Services for landlords and housing providers seeking EPC improvements. The system reduces compute carbon footprint by ~40% vs typical data centres and can save households up to £340/year on hot water bills.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• heata unit A compact compute server that attaches to domestic hot water cylinders in homes, harnessing waste heat from processing to provide free hot water to households (up to 4.8kWh per day, ~80% of average UK household hot water need). Can be installed by an electrician in under two hours without plumbing modifications.
• Cloud Compute Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 42% carbon reduction vs Microsoft Azure UK data centres through carbon-aware workload distribution
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ExpansocoreTechnology or Integration · 1 October 2024Partnership to expand green cloud services using Bacalhau platform. Enables Docker and WASM workloads to run distributed across Heata network. Expanso CEO David Aronchick cited in announcement. Reduces energy consumption by 80% while saving families up to £340 per year.
• South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024Supporting expansion of heata network in Scotland to provide greener cloud services with social, economic, and environmental benefits to South of Scotland. Tom Bishop, SOSE Strategy Manager for Infrastructure and Investment, quoted in announcement.
• Equal ExpertsminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 October 2024Software services firm is excited to bring Heata opportunity to client base. Data & AI Service Lead Lewis Crawford cited in announcement. Partnership enables reduction of carbon footprint for cloud activities while delivering social impact.
• MicrosoftminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2024Microsoft MAIDAP (AI Development Acceleration Programme) team collaborated on carbon optimization hackathon. MAIDAP developed AI/ML solution demonstrating heata can beat Azure UK data centres by 42% on carbon through carbon-aware workload distribution.
• Sero HomescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022Joint winners of Innovate UK Smart Grant partnership. Sero brings housing retrofit expertise, monitoring, sub-metering, and connectivity for the 100-home pilot trial. Sero builds net zero homes and works with property owners to achieve carbon zero portfolios.
• SUSEcoreTechnology or IntegrationEnterprise Linux distribution partner providing secure edge platform designed for physically exposed public infrastructure. SUSE has been instrumental in defining heata's security approach for the distributed network.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deep Green: UK-based company that places small data centres in buildings (swimming pools, leisure centres, heat networks) and reuses waste heat. Directly comparable business model to heata but targets commercial-scale heat consumers rather than residential hot water cylinders.
• EcoDataCenter: Sweden-based sustainable data centre operator that sells heat directly to district heating networks. Comparable "compute that doubles as heat" approach, though at hyperscale rather than distributed residential scale.
• Conductor Technologies: Cloud rendering platform purpose-built for studios, similar to heata's rendering service line. Competes in the same 3D rendering workload category heata targets as its primary customer segment.
• Qarnot Computing: France-based company that sells wall-mounted compute heaters that both heat buildings and provide distributed cloud compute. Architecturally the closest international analog to heata's distributed hot-water cylinder compute model.

Broad incumbents

• Civo: UK-based cloud computing provider and heata's seed-round lead investor. Comparable as a small-to-mid sustainable cloud compute competitor with overlapping sustainability positioning but offering traditional centralized cloud rather than distributed compute.
• OVHcloud: European cloud provider that emphasizes sustainability and water-cooling in its own data centres. A broader incumbent operating in the European sustainable cloud compute space where heata also competes.
• Scaleway: European cloud provider with active sustainability positioning and Paris-only renewable-powered data centres. Comparable as a sustainability-led European cloud compute competitor targeting similar eco-conscious enterprise customers.

Emerging players

• CoreWeave: GPU-focused cloud provider that has rapidly scaled into large batch compute workloads (AI, rendering). Comparable as a newer cloud compute alternative targeting compute-intensive workloads heata also addresses.
• Vapor IO: Edge computing infrastructure company deploying distributed micro data centres. Conceptually comparable to heata's distributed compute architecture but focused on edge/telco use cases rather than residential heat reuse.

Others

• Bramble Energy: UK clean tech company working on distributed energy hardware. Tangentially comparable through shared UK clean-tech ecosystem and distributed-energy architecture philosophy, though it operates in fuel cells rather than compute.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/heatacompute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heata
• Instagraminstagram.com/heatacompute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about heata