minimum energy

What minimum energy does

minimum energy GmbH is a Cologne-based software company founded in October 2024 that builds a SaaS platform for the automated planning and economic optimization of commercial and industrial (C&I) multi-asset energy systems. The software, developed at RWTH Aachen and Forschungszentrum Jülich, models PV, battery storage, heat pumps, charging infrastructure, CHP, thermal storage, and wind as a single digital twin and computes a global optimum across all assets and revenue use cases — self-consumption, peak shaving, arbitrage, and direct marketing — at 15-minute resolution over a full reference year. Modules cover Multi-Use optimization, variant comparison with sensitivities on tariff and price, stakeholder financing models (CAPEX, leasing, contracting, on-site PPA, Energy-as-a-Service), whitelabel PPTX export, battery degradation modeling, and tariff management, with regulatory coverage of Solarspitzengesetz, §19 StromNEV, MiSpeL, EEG, and EnWG automatically maintained.

The company targets two primary segments in the DACH region: Energieversorger (energy utilities) that build and sell C&I energy systems, and EPCs/solar installers who design and install C&I projects. Distribution is via direct enterprise sales — a 30-minute free demo booked through the website — supplemented by a channel partner ecosystem (B&W Energy, ENERGYMOVE) and content-led demand generation through whitepapers, webinars, and SEO-driven educational content. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is delivered through a quote-based conversation with the sales lead.

Named customers visible on the site include B&W Energy, SEINE Batteriesysteme, Juno Solar, STABL, and DEG Sonne + Wärme, alongside utility-affiliated logos such as E.ON, RheinEnergie, GBS, and E3DC, and industry associations BVES and BSW Solar. Revenue mechanics combine SaaS subscription access (priced by usage volume and scope) with adjacent professional-services revenue captured by channel partners using the platform to deliver proposals. The founding team comprises three PhDs from Forschungszentrum Jülich IEK-3 — Dr. Leander König-Kotzur (Product), Dr. Stanley Risch (Technology), Dr. Felix Kullmann (Customer Success) — augmented by Leon Schneider (Sales) from July 2025. No revenue, funding, or valuation figures have been publicly disclosed.

Name

minimum energy

Legal name

minimum energy GmbH

Website

https://minimum.energy

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

minimum energy is a Cologne-based SaaS company founded in October 2024 that provides automated multi-asset C&I energy system planning and optimization software, targeting energy utilities, EPCs, and solar installers in the DACH region with mathematical optimization and machine learning.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy System Planning Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Forecasting & AI Optimization for Flexibility (Load/Price/Renewables/SoC) (EUAFAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Market Bidding, Scheduling & Ancillary Services Optimization (Auto-bidder) (EUAFAKAG)

Keywords

• Energy system planning software
• Commercial battery storage optimization
• Multi-asset energy modeling
• Renewable energy techno-economic analysis
• C&I solar storage planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Köln (Cologne)

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. SaaS Software Subscription: minimum energy operates as a SaaS platform where customers pay for software access to use the energy planning and optimization tool. Users must purchase a corresponding package to run calculations. The pricing depends on usage volume and scope.
2. Professional Services / Consulting: Indirect revenue from professional services through channel partners who use the software to deliver energy planning projects, proposals, and consulting deliverables to end customers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

minimum energy sells a SaaS platform that automatically plans and economically optimizes multi-asset commercial and industrial energy systems (PV, battery storage, heat pumps, thermal storage, charging infrastructure, CHP, wind) using mathematical optimization and machine learning. The platform replaces Excel-based, sequential calculations with a single digital-twin optimization that simultaneously resolves Multi-Use scenarios (self-consumption, peak shaving, arbitrage, direct marketing), incorporates German regulatory compliance automatically, and exports investor-ready presentations and financing-model comparisons. Customers access it as a recurring software subscription in the DACH region.

Product overview

minimum.energy is a unified SaaS platform for commercial and industrial (C&I) energy planning that combines mathematical optimization with machine learning. The core platform enables automated sizing and economic optimization of multi-asset energy systems. Key modules include: Multi-Asset Planning for simultaneous modeling of PV, battery, heat pump, thermal storage, charging infrastructure, CHP and wind; Multi-Use Optimization for simultaneous optimization of self-consumption, peak shaving, arbitrage and direct marketing; Variant Calculator for comparing unlimited scenarios; Stakeholder Modeler for comparing CAPEX, contracting, PPA and energy-as-a-service models; Whitelabel Export for PPTX reports in corporate design; Tariff Manager for dynamic tariff optimization; Template Manager for portfolio standardization; and specialized Mobility and Heat Planning modules. The platform operates on 15-minute time-series data over a full reference year and was developed at RWTH Aachen based on years of research at Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• minimum.energy Platform SaaS energy planning platform for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers that automatically sizes and economically optimizes multi-asset energy systems (PV, battery storage, heat pumps, charging infrastructure, CHP, thermal storage, wind) using mathematical optimization combined with machine learning, with built-in German regulatory compliance and stakeholder-ready export outputs.

Quantifiable outcome

• +18% Multi-Use revenues through storage (claimed on website)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability2 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ENERGYMOVE GmbHcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 5 June 2025Strategic partnership with ENERGYMOVE GmbH announced June 5, 2025. Since May 2025, the companies have been working together to provide comprehensive energy solutions for commercial mid-market companies — from intelligent system design to implementation. Both share the aspiration to think in holistic systems rather than individual components, and the goal to make the energy transition economically and scalably viable.
• B&W Energy GmbH & Co. KGcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 May 2025Strategic partnership with B&W Energy GmbH & Co.KG announced May 16, 2025. minimum energy's software enables intelligent battery storage sizing in combination with photovoltaic systems, while B&W serves as a renowned solar installer that has successfully designed, installed, and operated numerous commercial projects. Together they combine state-of-the-art design software with years of experience in solar energy for holistic and cost-efficient energy supply for industry and commerce.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Stem Inc: AI-driven energy storage optimization and virtual power plant platform for C&I customers. Comparable multi-use storage optimization logic, though Stem is operational/real-time while minimum.energy is planning/design-stage.
• Envelio (Schneider Electric): Grid management and DER integration software acquired by Schneider Electric, serving European DSOs and utilities. Comparable in addressing German utility customers with optimization software, but focused on grid-side flexibility rather than C&I planning.

Direct peers

• EnergyToolbase: US-based SaaS for designing and dispatching C&I solar+storage projects with economic modeling. Directly comparable to minimum.energy's multi-asset, multi-use storage optimization offering, though EnergyToolbase is more mature and US-focused while minimum.energy is DACH-focused.
• RatedPower: SaaS for solar PV and BESS plant design with automated layouts, energy yield, and economic analysis. Comparable product positioning for utility-scale and C&I storage sizing, though more PV-focused and globally distributed.
• Aurora Solar: Cloud platform for solar PV and storage design, sales and economic analysis, widely adopted by installers. Comparable SaaS design-and-propose motion; primarily residential with expanding C&I coverage, making it a partial rather than full overlap.
• PV*SOL (Valentin Software): Established German PV and battery planning software widely used by European installers and EPCs. Overlaps directly with minimum.energy's PV+storage sizing and economic modeling; a primary incumbent in the same DACH channel.
• HOMER Energy: Long-standing microgrid and distributed energy system modeling software (UL Solutions). Both products perform techno-economic optimization of multi-asset energy systems; HOMER is broader/utility-scale while minimum.energy targets C&I with a stronger regulatory-compliance angle.

Emerging players

• PVcase: Solar design and engineering automation software for utility-scale and C&I PV projects. Overlaps with minimum.energy's EPC target segment on PV planning, but lacks the deep multi-use storage and German-regulatory optimization focus.
• Kiwigrid: Energy management platform serving utilities and C&I customers with DER orchestration. Adjacent in target customer (German Energieversorger) and battery use-case optimization, but focused on live EMS/control rather than upfront economic planning.

Others

• The Mobility House: EV charging and storage integration specialist active across Europe. Comparable in addressing C&I fleet electrification economics (a use case minimum.energy models in its Mobility module), but complementary rather than directly competitive.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@minimumenergy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/minimum-energy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 minimum energy