Envola and the EIC Accelerator: A Heat Pump With Built-In Storage
Envola, founded in Ulm in 2019, builds a storage heat pump: a heat pump combined with a thermal energy store that heats, cools, ventilates and dehumidifies a building and supplies hot water from one system. The company says the integrated store is what makes the system efficient and cheaper to install.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,222,675 towards a €3.18 million project that ran from July 2022 to December 2024. Its CORDIS report says the goal "to further develop the Envola heat pump to market maturity and mass-manufacturability as well as to successfully introduce it into the market, was reached", and claims energy savings of more than 50% for cooling and more than 30% for heating. The report and the company give no number of units sold or installed and no revenue.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Envola GmbH, HRB 738504, Ulm
- Registered
- 14 June 2019
- Founders
- Alexander Schechner (managing director), Gerhard Ihle
- Product
- Storage heat pump for heating, cooling, ventilation and hot water
- Patents
- Nine patent families, per company
- EIC project
- 1 Jul 2022 to 31 Dec 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Grant first; no EIC Fund investment announced
Where Envola Stands Today
Envola seeks money from individual investors through the crowdinvesting platform WIWIN, which offers a security paying 7% a year plus a performance bonus until the end of 2028 and describes a company of about 30 staff with nine patent families and early customer projects. The commercial register shows share capital rising from €100,000 to €138,086 in October 2024 and €139,990 in May 2025, a second managing director leaving in March 2026, and no insolvency proceedings.
The record
A new kind of heat pump, said to be launched but not yet counted
Envola says its storage heat pump reached market maturity during the EIC project; it has not published sales or installations.
- Jun 2019Company registeredEnvola GmbH, Ulm
- Mar 2022EIC Accelerator cut-offStorage heat pump for heating, cooling and ventilationgrant first
- Jul 2022EIC project startsMass-manufacturable design and control software€2.22M grant
- Oct 2024Capital increaseShare capital from €100,000 to €138,086
- Dec 2024EIC project endsMarket maturity and launch reached, per report
- May 2025Capital increaseShare capital to €139,990
- Mar 2026Management changeSecond managing director leaves
Envola, WIWIN, CORDIS and North Data.
The Technology: Heat and Cold Kept for Later
The report describes a system optimised for mass manufacturing, phase change materials for hot water, a "smart hydraulic system" and software that enables "predicitve maintenance for the Envola systems in the field". It claims a 20% lower investment cost than conventional heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. None of the performance figures has been independently published.
The claims
Savings the company reports
Percentages reported in the EIC project's final report, compared with conventional heating, cooling and ventilation systems. No independent measurement has been published.
CORDIS project 190151257 report.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The EIC project
The EU paid 70% of a €3.18M project
The project ran from July 2022 to December 2024. The award was grant-first.
CORDIS project 190151257. Values in € millions.
The project described the storage heat pump as "a new product category" that would cut energy use and emissions from buildings across Europe. The report states that market maturity and market introduction were reached. It gives no evidence of that introduction: no customers, installed units or sales. Its next steps are international expansion backed by patents and follow-up innovations.
- Mass-manufacturable designReportedPer CORDIS report.
- Energy savingsClaimedNo independent data.
- Market introductionNot shownNo sales published.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The shareholders
New shares in 2024 and 2025
Registered share capital in euros; the increases reflect new shares issued. Amounts paid were not announced.
Commercial register data via North Data.
The Money
Envola's accounts are filed in Germany but not freely displayed, so its revenue and losses are not public. North Data lists state aid in addition to the EIC grant. The 2024 and 2025 capital increases show that new shares were issued; the amounts were not announced.
What cannot be checked
How many storage heat pumps Envola has sold or installed, where, at what price, and what they have saved in practice are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC paid most of the cost of taking Envola's system to what the company calls market maturity. Without published sales or independent measurements, the public cannot tell whether the product is changing how buildings are heated and cooled.
What the project promised
A new product category of highly efficient heating, cooling and ventilation.
What the record shows
A self-reported market launch and savings claims, crowd and share funding, and no published sales.
The Verdict
Launched, by its own account
Envola says the EIC project reached its goal. The report and the company offer no numbers that would let anyone check it, and the firm's finances are not public.
Envola has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, German register data and EU project data, linked throughout.
Industry
EnergyHeating and cooling
- Focus
- Heat pumps
- Technologies
- Thermal storage
- Keywords
- Building energy
- Ventilation
- Residential heating
- Predictive maintenance
- Phase change materials