Austrian ROI Ventures joins €4.9M round for German Helio

Zurich-based Helio, that optimizes cloud workloads, has raised €4.9 million in an equity and debt round. The equity round was backed by QBIT Capital, Rockstart, Uebermorgen Ventures, seed+speed, Combination VC, ROI Ventures, Swisspreneur, and Cloud Angel Investors.

• Helio was founded in 2018 by Kevin Häfeli, Christoph Buchli. It employs a real-time algorithm that improves cloud resource allocation by rerouting computing tasks to underused or renewable-energy-powered data centers.
• The startup claims its approach tackles the dual challenges of poor efficiency (currently below 20% in the industry) and high environmental impact. The company aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 200Mt by 2030.

“This funding is a watershed moment for Helio, not just in securing financial support, but also in aligning with partners who share our vision for a carbon-aware cloud. As we accelerate our mission to transform the cloud computing industry into a model of efficiency and sustainability, this capital enables us to reduce both cloud spending and emissions for our customers,”

Kevin Häfeli, co-founder and CEO of Helio, commented.

• The fresh round was led by QBIT Capital, an early stage venture capital firm focused on Swiss startups. Early stage accelerator-VC from Amsterdam Rockstart, Swiss venture capital firm for climate tech startups Uebermorgen Ventures, Germans seed+speed and Combination VC, Austrian angel investor group ROI Ventures, and other investors also joined the investment.
• Helio will use it to use this funding to accelerate its market penetration, particularly in areas like 3D rendering and AI.