This interview was conducted with the new GPT “Startup Interviewer“, which developed Trending Topics based on ChatGPT. More information about the tool can be found here.
More sustainability through simple data such as electricity and gas bills: This is the vision of Brevius, a Viennese startup. Thanks to the young company’s software, companies should have the opportunity to significantly reduce their climate footprint. In an interview with the new GPT-based startup interviewer from Trending Topics, co-founder Thomas Biasion talks about Brevius.
Startup Interviewer: What is the vision behind your startup?
Thomas Biasion: We help companies become more sustainable by analyzing their resource consumption and the associated impact on the environment.
How did Brevius come about? What motivated you and your team to tackle this problem in particular?
Since 2022, we have been working as a team on a B2C open banking product that aimed to help people save on their electricity and gas contracts. Although this project was ultimately unsuccessful, it brought us closer together as a team.
The growing concern about climate change, the slow implementation of political goals and the constant reports of greenwashing in the industry have awakened in us the desire to actively contribute to a more sustainable future. With the introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in 2024, we have recognized a good opportunity to support companies in preparing their sustainability reports. Our goal is to relieve companies of data processing of emissions data so that they can concentrate more on achieving their sustainability goals.
What specific problems does your startup solve and how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?
Brevius addresses the complex problem of data collection and analysis in the area of sustainability reporting by enabling companies to precisely measure their resource consumption and associated environmental impacts. We use AI algorithms to automatically extract and analyze relevant information from a variety of data sources, especially billing data.
Unlike other providers that often require manual data entry or rely on estimates, Brevius offers a time-efficient and automated solution. With our technology, companies can not only understand their ecological footprint and thus meet legal requirements, but also use the resulting database to economically optimize their processes.
Can you give a specific example of how your product helped one of your customers achieve their goals?
Our pilot customer, one of the largest laundries in Austria, had water damage in a branch last year, which was unfortunately only discovered far too late. We now proactively monitor water consumption and are therefore able to detect early on whether an unusually high amount of water is being used at one of the locations – in relation to the current order situation. This means we keep an eye on resource consumption, which also saves costs for the company through optimization.
How has your product or service developed since it was founded?
We originally focused on analyzing the consumption of purchased energy such as electricity, gas or district heating (Scope 2 emissions). Now we are expanding the offering and are also integrating, for example, the assessment of the gasoline consumption of delivery vehicles (Scope 1 emissions), as well as the purchase of resources such as detergent (Scope 3 emissions).
What does your team look like? What backgrounds and skills do you bring with you?
Matthias Kurz, our CEO, specializes in regulatory and risk management, with a strong foundation in banking and experience as a founder. Roman Reithmayer, as Chief Technology Officer, has 12 years of experience in software development and is an expert in cyber security. Thomas Biasion, our Chief Product Officer, brings extensive experience from the data & AI area of Google Cloud and IT consulting as well as the social component to our team as a project manager for an NGO.
Together, we bring technical expertise, strategic business knowledge and a strong commitment to sustainability to drive Brevius forward.
What about previous financing? Are there already investors?
We are self-funded and are keeping our expenses as low as possible during these financially challenging times. As a next step, we plan to significantly further develop our technology through startup funding. After proving ourselves to the first customers, we intend to target investors. Of course, we are always open to dialogue with angel investors or VCs.
Can you explain your business model to us? How does your startup generate revenue?
Our business model is based on a B2B SaaS model. We generate our revenue through flexible subscription models based on the amount of data points to be analyzed. This enables us to offer suitable pricing models to both SMEs and large companies. In the future, we plan to integrate our solutions into our customers’ existing systems and further expand our partnerships with other manufacturers to ensure problem-free integration into our customers’ business processes. This strategic expansion and cooperation with partners are increasingly becoming an integral part of our business model.
What challenges do you see along the way and how do you plan to overcome them?
On our journey we are confronted with the challenge of continually adapting our solutions to regulatory requirements. Given the political risk that the EU may relax its sustainability goals, it remains essential for us to act flexibly and proactively. That’s why we attach great importance to ensuring that our solution not only meets regulatory requirements, but also creates clear economic added value for our customers.
From a technological perspective, we are faced with the challenge of seamlessly integrating our solutions into various IT systems and keeping pace with the rapid development of artificial intelligence. Our strategy relies on continuous innovation and close collaboration with technology partners to effectively address these challenges.
What are the next big steps for Brevius in the future?
In the near future, we plan to further expand pilot projects and learn from the lessons learned to optimize our solutions. At the same time, a key focus is on acquiring additional customers from different industries and making our offering more widely accessible. In parallel, we will look for new financing opportunities to advance our technological development.