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L&G and Hodge invest £5.5m in net-zero property tech firm
Legal and General Capital and specialist lender Hodge have jointly invested £5.5m in Sero, an energy technology and services company which aims to help homeowners reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions.
The investment will help Sero in its next stage of growth and support the delivery of net-zero carbon dioxide emission financial products with its partners.
Last year, Sero teamed up with Principality Building Society and Monmouthshire Building Society to assist the mutuals in developing green mortgages using its insights.
Sero has been examining how energy efficient homes on the mutuals’ portfolios are to determine if homeowners may be able to access further advances or larger mortgage loans.
It has also built nearly 500 new homes and started retrofitting more over 3,000 homes, spread across more than 30 social landlords.
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David Landen, chief executive at Hodge, said he was delighted that the lender was investing in Sero to help reduce the emissions from new and existing homes.
He added: “Our organisations share a common purpose of making lives and society a better place. We can build a strong partnership to help all customers with this vital part of the UK’s carbon transition. The investment is part of our strategy to invest in exciting technology businesses that have close alignment to both our business and our purpose.”
John Bromley, head of clean energy at Legal and General Capital, said: “As an energy transition investor, we are aiming to support the scale-up of innovative businesses capable of delivering the solutions needed to reduce emissions throughout the economy, and Sero represents another perfect partner in this space.”
“We’re delighted to be investing in a business that will play a major role in putting UK housing on a pathway to net zero, while providing significant job creation in the clean energy sector and supporting the UK’s SMEs.”
James Williams, chief executive at Sero said: “This investment therefore is a huge milestone for Sero as we grow and bring new products to market to help Wales and the UK in its delivery of net zero.
“We set out to find investors that share our vision, and this has been evident from both the Legal and General and Hodge teams from the outset. We look forward to now working together to create strategic opportunities for the business, in particular expanding our presence within new and emerging sectors, such as working with banks and building societies to support the development of green finance products.”