Zendesk co-founder’s big comeback – AI ‘energy cloud’ startup scores €2.4M

Copenhagen-based Hybird Energy was formally co-founded in 2024 by one of Scandinavia’s most successful tech alumni, so it’s no surprise the firm has already secured a significant investment.

The four-person founding team includes Morten Primdahl, co-founder and former CTO of Zendesk, the customer service software company launched in 2007 that went public in the US in 2014.

Impact Loop has learned that Hybird Energy has just secured €2.4M in funding, co-led by Swedish early-stage VC firm BackingMinds and Transition, a UK-based climate VC.

Hybird Energy’s core product is intelligent electrical panels that provide detailed, source-level monitoring of electricity usage. The solution is designed to address Europe’s energy crisis, with factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine straining supplies, driving up costs, and underscoring the need for smarter energy management in recent years.

The startup's technology is already deployed at 15 sites in Denmark. Hybird Energy claims it can reduce energy consumption by 30% on average for its customers, which include real estate and industrial firms.

You rarely see such a senior and complementary team

Jasenko Hadzic, a principal at BackingMinds, tells Impact Loop that the decision to invest in Hybird Energy was driven as much by the startup’s carbon-cutting impact goals as by the experience of its founders.

“You rarely see such a senior and complementary team in terms of skill sets,” he says, noting that each co-founder has between 15 and 20 years of experience in their respective areas: sales, software, hardware, and design.

Alongside Primdahl – who returned to Europe from the US a few years ago – the founding team includes strategic positioning and sales expert Søren Berg; Thomas Skovby, an Internet of Things pioneer who most recently worked at EV company Electro One; and industrial design veteran Johannes Torpe.

Hadzic describes Primdahl as “truly passionate about sustainability” and calls it a testament to his dedication that he’s taking a hands-on role despite his financial success.

“For the Nordics and the ecosystem, I think it is invaluable that we have such an iconic founder coming back into the arena for his second act,” Hadzic says.

He points out that most highly successful Nordic founders tend to become angel investors or VCs, contrasting this with the US, where there’s more appetite for potentially risky comebacks. Even when founders are in their forties and fully aware of the hard work involved in “starting again,” such ventures are more common across the Atlantic, says Hazic. “I don’t see many [Scandinavians] willing to go back for a second try unless it’s something they are very passionate about.”

Saving money and simplifying operations

In a news release, Primdahl says his goal is “to help make infrastructure more manageable by surfacing actionable data.” He adds “We want to provide tools to simplify and improve daily operations for businesses.”

Thomas Skovby, co-founder and CCO, highlights the lack of significant innovation in electrical switchboards since the introduction of automatic circuit breakers and residual current devices in the 1960s. “With Hybird, we pioneer a technology-driven transformation in the sector, making it the easiest way for companies to participate in the green transition and for electrical contracting companies to finally get a digital overhaul of this key part of their business,” he says in the news release.

The new €2.4M funding will help Hybird Energy scale its efforts to meet the rising demand for improved energy management across Europe. The company says it also plans to enhance its energy cloud with advanced automation features and expand its scope to include water and heating controls, aiming to create a comprehensive energy optimisation platform.

Hadzic says he hopes the investment will also prove that European startups can compete against the big global brands currently dominating the energy management market. The space is currently led by Siemens, Schneider Electric, and ABB, which, according to Hadzic, sell “expensive hardware and software” and often lock customers into long-term consultancy and maintenance agreements.

“Hybird is at the lower price point,” he says, and offers “a better experience for customers.”

A wide range of investors

Alongside BackingMinds and Transition, other investors contributing to the €2.4M funding pot include Ekaterina Gianelli (ex-partner at Inventure and current venture partner at Calm/Storm Ventures), Louise Krogh Rindom (chair of Monta, a company providing software for electric vehicle infrastructure), and 2degrees, a family office behind Urban Partners, a platform of investment strategies focused on urban problem-solving.