A new line of business, built with a utility. All the way to exit.
How EnBW and mantro built FoxInsights together from 2015 — an energy-data platform with its own IoT devices, outside the core business, with its own team and its own customers.
- Venture
- FoxInsights
- Case
- A new line of business, built with EnBW
- years to exit
- 4
- people
- 50+
01Intro
Intro
Germany's energy transition and the smart-meter rollout opened a new opportunity: utilities sit on enormous amounts of grid and consumption data. What they lacked were the tools, platforms and skills to turn that data into a product.
At EnBW, one of Germany's four big utilities, the board member responsible for innovation wanted to prove the company could build digital businesses beyond the classic utility model. He was willing to go beyond standard corporate thinking. That made the difference.
02Situation
Utility DNA is not startup DNA
The idea needed its own hardware: sensors for energy infrastructure, designed and built from scratch. Hardware development wasn't part of EnBW's core business. And the new business had to move faster than corporate structures allow.
So we built it together, outside EnBW: as a company of its own, with its own team, its own devices and its own customers.
In 2015, there was no playbook for that. We wrote it on the way.
03Approach
Our job
Step 01 / 03
Founded together, owned together
EnBW and mantro founded and funded FoxInsights together. We weren't a service provider but a co-owner — with entrepreneurial responsibility from day one to exit.
Step 02 / 03
Hardware and software, from scratch
Proprietary IoT devices for energy infrastructure, connected to a cloud platform that turns raw energy data into insights. Own devices, own platform.
Step 03 / 03
Operator, not advisor
We ran the company through the whole lifecycle, built the team and sold to utilities and industrial customers beyond EnBW.
04Outcome
What FoxInsights achieved
- R—01
4 years to exit
Validation, build, scaling, exit — the full lifecycle from 2015 to 2019.
- R—02
50+ people
A standalone company with real revenue and customers among utilities and industry beyond EnBW.
- R—03
2 steps to exit
EnBW took over mantro's stake with a positive return, and later sold the company to an external buyer.
05Learnings
Learnings
- 01
The sponsor matters as much as the case
It takes a decision-maker who is willing to leave standard corporate thinking behind. Finding that person is as important as the business case.
- 02
Hardware doubles the complexity
Devices and software run on different timelines, supply chains and risk profiles. That's why we look at hardware ventures differently today.
- 03
Partners, not contractors
When both sides hold equity and carry responsibility, you decide differently: faster, bolder, closer to the market. That's how we've worked with every partner since.
Get in touch
If you want to stress-test an idea, unblock an initiative, or simply see whether we're the right partner, let's talk. You can book a straight-to-the-point session with our CEO Manni, or leave us a message.
- Address
- Zielstattstr. 19
81379 München - hello@mantro.net