Led · Equity · Mar 2022

SparkMeter is a Washington, DC-based provider of grid-management services, metering equipment, and cloud software used by communities across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Its plug-and-play solution enables microgrids and distribution utilities in remote locations to access flexible billing, customer communications, and remote monitoring and control. The company offers integrated cloud-based metering and operational analytics software alongside metering hardware. Led by CEO Dan Schnitzer, SparkMeter operates in more than 25 countries and targets emerging markets where 2.1 billion people live without reliable electricity access. SparkMeter raised a $5M investment from Honeywell Smart Energy and intends to use the funds to move from the small microgrid market into the larger global utility market. Under the partnership, Honeywell Smart Energy will introduce SparkMeter’s solutions to its US utility customers and offer SparkMeter’s metering hardware to large emerging market countries. SparkMeter provides a technology platform that ingests real-time data streams from the edge of a utility’s network and overlays them on a detailed model of the grid to create a digital twin. The company’s stack includes hardware and software for meter-to-cash workflows, detailed system insights, and integrations to improve distribution system operations. Led by CEO Dan Schnitzer, SparkMeter addresses visibility, congestion, and stress on lines and transformers while helping utilities plan for DERs and EV chargers. The company plans to introduce a comprehensive grid analytics platform and will release the first stage of its software platform, Koios™, in April 2022. SparkMeter intends to use the new funds to accelerate growth and expand operations. The recent financing round brought the company’s total financing to $22M and signals expanded runway for product rollout and market expansion. SparkMeter provides grid management services, hardware, and software that bring smart metering and analytics to utilities serving underserved communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas. The company is launching a new Digital Solutions offering to connect smart-grid data insights to business operations for large electricity distribution utilities in emerging markets. Digital Solutions will help utilities digitalize operations, assess areas for improvement, and deploy customized algorithms and solutions to improve business performance. The service can enable utilities to avoid capital upgrades through non-wires alternatives such as distributed energy resources and load management. SparkMeter says the offering will expand its market presence across Africa and Asia while opening opportunities for distribution utilities globally to improve financial and environmental sustainability. Led by co-founder and CEO Dan Schnitzer, the company recently completed a $12M Series A.

Led · Series A · Feb 2022

Altigreen Propulsion Labs manufactures electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and four-wheelers targeted at the transportation and last-mile delivery sectors. The company holds a patent portfolio spanning 60 countries with 26 global patents covering electric motors and generators, vehicle and motor controls, EV transmissions, telematics/IoT and battery management. The recent funding will be used to boost EV manufacturing, launch new products, strengthen a pan-India presence, accelerate R&D, and drive faster EV adoption. Co-founders Amitabh Saran and Shalendra Gupta have articulated a roadmap focused on rapid EV adoption in the commercial segment driven by e-commerce and last-mile demand. Financially, Altigreen announced a Series A totaling ₹3 billion (~$40 million), with a sizeable investment from Reliance New Energy Limited included in the round.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2021

Bidgely provides AI-powered energy intelligence solutions to utilities worldwide, using its UtilityAI™ platform to analyze smart meter data and generate appliance-level insights without intrusive hardware. Its technology helps utilities with accurate grid planning, load forecasting, customer engagement, time-of-use optimization, load shifting, and managed EV charging. The company has been developing a comprehensive EV Management solution for investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, and municipalities. CIBC Innovation Banking has increased its growth financing commitment to Bidgely, providing $18 million to support expansion into the electric vehicle and grid modernization markets. Bidgely’s leadership said the financing will fuel continued innovation to meet evolving utility needs and global decarbonization goals. CIBC framed the investment as a sign of confidence and noted it will provide strategic advice, cash management and funding as part of its Innovation Banking services. Bidgely offers an AI-driven UtilityAI™ platform that disaggregates smart meter (AMI) data to identify behind-the-meter devices such as EVs, rooftop solar and batteries, delivering actionable customer energy insights. The company holds 17 patents, including EV disaggregation techniques, and partners with nearly 40 global utilities and energy retailers. Bidgely emphasizes solutions for electrification and decarbonization, including time-of-use rate enablement, load shifting strategies, and advanced distribution management data. It operates as a pure smart-meter-data SaaS provider and retains 30+ data scientists. Bidgely plans to use recent funding to advance digital customer engagement, home energy reports, grid load management and load research, and to continue integrations with partners like Salesforce and Itron. The company is based in Mountain View, Calif. Bidgely operates an AI platform that enhances meter and customer data to enable utilities and energy retailers to better understand and engage customers. The platform also creates personalized energy profiles for targeted marketing. The company works with more than 30 utilities and energy retailers across the world. Bidgely is operated by Bidgely Inc and is based in Bengaluru. CEO Abhay Gupta said the recent funding will be used to develop electrification, electric vehicle, and decarbonization solutions and to accelerate growth in other markets. Other investors in the company include Georgian Partners and Khosla Ventures. Bidgely is an AI-powered SaaS company whose UtilityAI platform transforms utility meter, demographic and interaction data into actionable consumer energy insights for utilities and energy retailers. The platform hyper-personalizes customer engagement across functions such as call centres, data analytics and integrated marketplaces and recommends value-added products and services (smart thermostats, EV chargers, solar PVs, ToU tariffs). In 2020 Bidgely expanded its portfolio to include electrification and electric vehicles as well as small‑medium business and commercial customer segments. The company works with over 25 utilities and energy retailers worldwide, retains 30+ data scientists, and holds more than 15 energy patents. Bidgely has raised $50M+ in funding to date. The recent financing is intended to scale go-to-market operations globally and accelerate ongoing development of the UtilityAI platform across Asia, Europe and North America. Bidgely builds AI-driven energy disaggregation and SaaS-based analytics with consumer-friendly web and mobile applications to deliver personalized, actionable insights to residential customers. The company works with utilities globally and reports 10 million homes under contract with 25 utilities, and it recently launched the third generation of its disaggregation platform. Bidgely started out at Silicon Valley’s Plug-and-Play incubator in 2011 and was founded by IIT alumni Abhay Gupta (CEO) and Vivek Garud (CTO); it has offices in Mountain View, Bangalore, and the Netherlands. The new funding will be used to expand the Bangalore engineering and data‑science team—targeting over 200 engineers in the next 12–18 months—and to deepen its disaggregation technology. Bidgely also plans to accelerate growth in Europe and Asia by expanding local sales and customer-success teams and to extend beyond consumer-facing engagement into business intelligence for broader utility decision making. Financially, the company has raised a total of $51 million to date, including the recently closed $27 million Series C.