1KOMMA5° bets Germany's 2024 heating law turns homes electric: €400M raised, unicorn

1KOMMA5° was founded in Hamburg in 2021 by Philipp Schröder and Jannik Schall on a simple bet: the German home would become an electrified machine — solar on the roof, a battery in the cellar, a heat pump and EV charger in between — and homeowners would rather buy it all from one shop than assemble it themselves.

The regulatory catalyst arrived on January 1, 2024, when Germany's amended Building Energy Act (GEG) required new heating systems in new development areas to run on at least 65% renewable energy, with obligations for existing buildings phased in later. Heat pumps, which the law explicitly accepts as a compliant technology, went from niche to default.

1KOMMA5° grew with the mandate: over 10,000 heat pumps sold in Germany since early 2024, German installations nearly quadrupling in 2025 and global sales more than doubling. By July 2025 it had raised almost €400 million in equity — including a €150 million pre-IPO round extended with Sabanci Climate Ventures — and remained profitable in its core hardware business.

The deeper bet is Heartbeat AI, software that turns customer systems into a virtual power plant (over 500 MW of flexibility, described as Europe's largest residential VPP) and buys and sells electricity on homeowners' behalf. The stated ambition is to become 'the last energy company consumers ever subscribe to', replacing utilities rather than just selling hardware.