FT4U, an innovative start-up company founded by PhD students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication Technologies at the Brno University of Technology (FEEC BUT), is launching a new intelligent software called Wattee. The software aims to improve the efficient use of renewable energy sources through artificial intelligence algorithms, and is designed to optimise energy flow management in residential and commercial complexes, ultimately reducing energy consumption costs.
FT4U was founded in 2021 by three PhD students from FEEC BUT: Lukáš Jablončík, Michal Mikulášek and Michal Ružička. Initially, they focused on the implementation of control units for charging stations. However, their scope gradually expanded to include comprehensive energy system management for entire buildings and facilities. This led to the development of Wattee, a product with global ambitions.
“Although our current focus is on implementation, we want to move towards selling software solutions for charging stations and energy management. We are targeting residential buildings, corporate offices, local distribution networks and municipalities – areas with higher electricity consumption,” explained Jablončík.
Wattee offers both environmental and economic benefits. These include maximising profits from the sale of surplus energy, while minimising the costs of charging and other energy consumption. Wattee works not only with photovoltaics, but also with battery storage, virtual power plants and spot energy prices, which can reduce the payback period for solar systems by up to two years.
“The future of energy lies in advanced artificial intelligence technologies,” added Jablončík. “The ultimate goal is to create a system that automatically identifies and implements the most beneficial energy strategies. This will involve continuous data collection, cloud analysis and real-time autonomous decision making on energy consumption, production, storage, purchase and sale.”
The idea is for the system to work seamlessly in the background without user intervention, with the aim that mayors or facility managers using Wattee will never need to open the application.
FT4U and its Wattee software join a group of another four start-ups that have emerged from BUT in the last nine months. In June, student project TechMountain, which focuses on monitoring fuel leaks in railway tanks, was awarded BUT start-up status. Shortly after, MaNoSens, which optimises energy consumption, and the BIOM research project, which focuses on sustainable urban development, also joined. At the end of 2024, the BUT start-up Forenzio was founded, offering expert advice in the field of construction.
