Nesta’s Impact Investments team backs tech ventures working in areas aligned with our 2030 impact goals. We have invested £750k in smart hot water tank provider Mixergy, in line with Nesta’s sustainable future mission that is working to decarbonise UK households. Nesta has invested alongside EDP Ventures and existing investors Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), Kiko Ventures, Foresight WAE Technology and Centrica.

Mixergy’s system is ten times faster at heating water than conventional systems and its patented approach to generating and storing hot water means that users heat only the water that is needed. The company’s mission is to cut heating bills, decarbonise homes and provide more flexibility to the grid. It does this by using sensors and controls to transform simple hot water tanks into smart heat batteries that have a lifetime of over 25 years. The Mixergy tank lasts three times longer than a regular battery and can be used with heat pumps and solar photovoltaics.

The Mixergy water tank is inherently more efficient at storing and meeting residential demand for hot water than conventional cylinders (12-21% more depending upon the fuel source), with further efficiencies delivered through its ability to learn hot water usage patterns (time of day & quantity of usage). Additionally, by reading grid tariff signals, Mixergy tanks help customers on time-of-use/flexible tariffs to generate and store hot water at off-peak times, creating the potential for further savings (up to 40%). The water tank is compatible with all fuel sources, creating an affordable stepping-stone in household decarbonisation.

Nesta calculates that a Mixergy tank can reduce domestic emissions by 3-6% (based on 15% of domestic energy used for hot water production, with a 20-40% saving created by Mixergy’s smart design and controls ). Our investment will help increase sales, build new capabilities and heat pump-related products.