A venture capital unit of German industrial giant Siemens said Thursday it has invested $5 million in indoor-air software firm 75F, bringing the Minnesota company's first round of venture capital investment to $28 million.
Siemens' Next47 VC unit joins Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy, the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative and WIND Ventures in putting money into the Bloomington-based company.
The Siemens investment closes out 75F's inaugural VC round.
CEO Deepinder Singh declined to say what the recent investment implies about the overall value of 75F or whether Siemens, which has been acquisitive in the building-energy field recently, may be a prospective acquirer.
75F's technology is complementary to Siemens' other acquisitions, Singh said.
"My belief as an entrepreneur has always been that we should turn market leaders into partners," Singh said. "By doing this, we can accelerate the adoption of truly innovative technology."
Henning Sandfort, CEO of building products at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, said the company's investment in 75F reflects its interest in technologies that make it easier for customers to reap savings from energy efficiency.
"75F's wireless solution is easy to install and implement, offers fully-integrated AI and analytics, and can help get companies large or small on a path to meeting their energy or carbon-reduction goals," Sandfort said in a statement.