Sunnova founder John Berger launches Otovo USA — an AI-driven home energy service

Sunnova founder John Berger launches Otovo USA in Texas, raising $4M to offer AI-driven solar, storage, and home energy services

A new residential energy startup is entering the U.S. market with a familiar name behind it. William J. “John” Berger — founder of Sunnova Energy International and longtime clean-power entrepreneur — has launched Otovo USA, raising more than $4 million in seed funding to build what he calls an integrated home “power partner.”

The company is debuting first in Texas (many solar + storage concepts seem to be launching in Texas first these days), where more than 3.9 million single-family homes already have credit-qualified energy systems in place. Otovo USA’s model brings together retail electricity, service and maintenance, and grid trading in a single membership package. Solar, batteries, EV chargers, standby generators, and load management devices can all be folded into one AI-driven platform.

Endurance AI platform at the core

The backbone of the service is Endurance, a proprietary artificial-intelligence system that continuously monitors and optimizes behind-the-meter assets. Endurance can automate diagnostics, schedule maintenance, and shift household power flows to reduce costs — storing solar when prices are low, exporting when prices are high, and dispatching backup when needed.

“Otovo is a European leader in residential power and we’re combining its deep operating expertise with a new AI-based platform to deliver one simple, always-on service,” Berger said. “With millions of U.S. home solar systems, batteries, and EV chargers, there is a vast market of home energy consumers that need better service.”

Scaling beyond Texas

Otovo USA is partnering with Otovo, which has helped homeowners across 13 European countries adopt solar. Founder Andreas Thorsheim said the U.S. launch is aimed at eventually serving the 26 million homes with power generation or management assets across the U.S. and Europe.

Investors see the concept as a shift in the residential solar services model. “Otovo USA’s innovative AI-based service model will transform and greatly improve the residential solar and home power services industry,” said George Coyle, managing partner at Energy Innovation Capital, which led the $4M round.

Berger’s track record

Berger has a long history of building residential energy companies:

• Standard Renewable Energy (2006), one of the early solar contractors.
• SunCap Financial (2010), focused on solar financing.
• Sunnova (2012), which grew into one of the world’s largest behind-the-meter energy service providers.

Otovo USA will now attempt to take that model further by unifying procurement, O&M, and grid services into one platform — positioning itself as a customer’s long-term energy partner, not just a solar installer.