Big buildings come with big energy bills. Luckily, Wintercircus Startup Campus resident eSave has developed an energy management solution that learns from the people inside a building when and where the temperature needs to be adjusted. The result: lower energy bills, happier occupants, and a greener grid.

“Got anything less strong than yesterday’s coffee?” Andrei Neagu asks the waiter at Bar Bougie, the buzzing heart of Wintercircus. The serial entrepreneur settles on a mint tea, and it quickly becomes clear that he doesn’t need a caffeine boost to keep his energy up.

The esave CEO has quite the backstory. His company, a spin-off from imec and Ghent University, is already the seventh venture he has founded. The first five took shape in his native Romania, the last two in Belgium. He moved here a decade ago to study business engineering at Ghent University, “and then I somehow forgot to leave,” he grins. “One of life’s many happy accidents.”

Another happy accident was meeting his eSave co-founder, Jelle Nelis, even though the circumstances don’t sound all that ideal. “I was working on a PhD about interoperability in IoT (Internet of Things) devices,” Andrei recalls, “and Jelle completely disproved my thesis. Mind you, that was the best thing that could’ve happened! He saved me from wasting years on research that wouldn’t lead anywhere. In return, I convinced him to explore the commercial potential of the IoT technology he was working on.” Initially, they operated under the umbrella of imec and Ghent University, “but four years ago, we decided to take the leap and start our own company.”

Today, eSave offers an integrated energy management system that uses AI to analyze and optimize thermal parameters in large buildings - significantly reducing energy consumption and accelerating the green shift. But as Andrei quickly admits, the two entrepreneurs didn‘t start there. “In the beginning, we had to find a middle ground between wanting to ‘change the world’ through academic knowledge and actually making a tangible difference for a single client,” he says. “You know, business. I’ve always worked in an academic environment, but I’ve never been interested in research for research’s sake. I need to see real-world outcomes and build something useful for the market.”

The technology Jelle initially developed at Ghent University has much broader potential across various markets – it can enable different networks, systems, and devices to dynamically converse with one another. But Andrei knew they first needed to tailor the tech to a market they could fully service and easily navigate. “That turned out to be large real estate,” he explains. “And we happened to enter that market just as Russia invaded Ukraine and the energy crisis hit. So yes, we were a bit lucky. With everyone suddenly worrying about skyrocketing energy bills, it wasn’t hard to convince companies of our product – a complete energy management solution that helps them save energy while ensuring no occupant is ever uncomfortable.”

How does it work? “What we typically see,” says the CEO, “is that energy production and distribution in office buildings or student housing is scaled up to keep everyone inside happy. But what our software learns over time – thanks to feedback from people in the building who scan QR codes to tell us if they’re too hot or too cold in any given room – is whether someone feels comfortable at, say, 18°C or 23°C, and when certain spaces, often heated or cooled around the clock, are actually being used. With that knowledge, our system can fine-tune energy production, cut costs, and still keep everyone perfectly happy.” Pretty clever, right?

What Andrei is most proud of is that, with eSave, companies can truly put the people inside their buildings first. “Many other players in the market steer energy production based on the weather forecast - they focus on external factors. We focus on what people are experiencing inside: what they want, where they want it, and when they need it. No matter the temperature outside, if there’s no real demand inside to crank up the heating or air conditioning, there’s no need for high energy production either.”

Andrei Neagu: "Even when you think you know, there’s always something you don’t know." It’s precisely that human, personalized approach that’s now also steering eSave towards the healthcare sector – “you really don’t want to know how much hospitals spend on energy,” Andrei notes. And ... it’s why the company’s co-founders knew they wanted to be part of the Wintercircus Startup Campus. “At the end of the day, it’s not about the building either,” Andrei says. “It’s about the people inside, about this community of startups that not only lets you share your problems but also helps you find a solution.” In fact, it was from hanging around Wintercircus and bumping into other entrepreneurs in the hallways that Andrei and Jelle secured fresh capital, “allowing us to apply for the Startup Campus and move here.”

Ultimately, for Andrei, there’s always another solution to be found. “That’s really the key to building a successful business, isn’t it? Realizing that even when you think you know, there’s always something you don’t know. A new AI tool to discover and implement. Communication skills to improve. It’s a continuous learning process. But the real difference here is that we’re learning together. And that changes everything.”