Smart meter-manufacturer buys Leipzig startup

The Swiss company is paying an amount in the double-digit millions for the startup Rhebo. It intends to use the know-how from Saxony to protect its smart electricity meters against cyberattacks.

Leipzig. Swiss smart meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr has acquired Leipzig-based startup Rhebo. Landis+Gyr announced in a press release that the purchase price is in the low double-digit million range. Rhebo’s technology makes it possible to detect hacker attacks and anomalies in networks in real time. This would allow utilities and other customers to respond immediately to cybersecurity threats, the statement said. According to Landis+Gyr, energy utilities use such solutions primarily to protect their distribution networks.

More security for smart meters

In addition to various industrial companies, Rhebo serves energy suppliers in Germany alone, with a current area coverage of more than 31 percent. The collaboration with Landis+Gyr follows Rhebo’s strategy to also seamlessly secure critical IoT devices in industrial networks. Rhebo had already integrated its solution on sonnen GmbH’s energy storage devices in 2019 to enable global security and operational monitoring. With the acquisition of Rhebo, Landis+Gyr can add cybersecurity and availability aspects to the functionality of its smart metering devices.

Access to new customers

Klaus Mochalski, co-founder and CEO of Rhebo, says, “We are excited to become part of the Landis+Gyr family and look forward to continuing to drive Rhebo’s development as a leadership team.” They see unique opportunities to combine Rhebo’s innovative cybersecurity and anomaly detection solutions with Landis+Gyr’s market-leading portfolio and access to critical infrastructure customers, Mochalski said.