Finally, the idea was to link the distributed servers via the Internet to form a virtual computer centre. Struckmeier developed a simulation program to establish how many server cabinets would be required to heat a building, depending on its energy footprint and size. Now all the pair had to do was set up a company and appoint a managing director to raise seed capital. They brought businessman René Marcel Schretzmann on board and founded AoTerra in 2011. The company now combines both strands of the business under its new name Cloud&Heat and is based in the north of Dresden. “We aim to become one of the most important cloud providers in Europe and beyond,” says Schretzmann, declaring that the firm already operates the greenest cloud in the world. The company’s server cabinets save up to ten tonnes of CO2 per unit per year compared to conventional computer centres. Sales reached EUR 1 million in 2013, with profits expected in late 2015. Schretzmann acquired capital funding not only from the local bank and the Startbahn Ventures start-up fund, but also from German crowdfunding platform Seedmatch, which generated EUR 1 million.
