Led · Series C · Sep 2024

Utility Global is an industrial decarbonization company that has created H2Gen®, a proprietary process that converts water and industrial off-gases into economically viable clean hydrogen while generating a capture-ready, high-purity CO₂ stream without using electricity. The solution is designed for direct integration into existing assets in sectors such as steel, refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, low-carbon fuels, and upstream oil and gas. By leveraging waste gases, the technology provides a cost-competitive alternative to conventional fossil-based processes and supports scalable carbon capture, utilization, or storage (CCUS). The company positions itself as a practical provider of repeatable, near-term decarbonization projects and has recently announced partnerships with Kyocera, Symbio North America Corporation, the city of Seongnam, Maas Energy Works, and ArcelorMittal. Proceeds from its latest capital raise will fund expanded manufacturing capacity, bolster project-execution teams, and advance multiple commercial deployments across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Ara Partners has been Utility Global’s majority shareholder since its initial investment in 2021 and continues to support the company’s transition from proven technology to full global commercialization.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Nexus PMG is a Dallas, TX-based waste-to-value and low-carbon infrastructure company providing advisory and development services to infrastructure investors. Led by CEO Ben Hubbard, it delivers technical, operational and financial diligence and integrated services including development, preliminary engineering, contract structuring, EPC, commissioning and operational readiness. The firm offers front-end engineering and design, development-as-a-service and operational turnaround. Nexus develops greenfield and brownfield assets through two subsidiaries: Nexus W2V (converting organic waste into renewable natural gas, compost and biochar) and Pathway Energy (producing ultra-low‑carbon sustainable aviation fuel with carbon sequestration); both expect to commercialize assets over the next several years. Today Nexus serves upwards of 100 investors, developers and corporations that collectively have more than $300 billion of energy transition AUM and more than $1 trillion of global AUM, and has supported over $35 billion of low-carbon infrastructure projects across 26 U.S. states, 13 countries and five continents. The company plans to use new capital to expand services, hire talent and grow its offerings and client base.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2023

Caban develops and deploys Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) offerings built around lithium-ion battery packs, energy storage systems, and energy management hardware and software. Through its EaaS model the company designs, installs, and operates clean energy infrastructure while clients pay a fixed energy and O&M fee, enabling customers to reduce energy costs and carbon footprint without capital ownership. Its systems are designed to provide reliable primary and backup power, reduce fossil fuel consumption and maintenance visits, and lower overall operating costs while improving reliability. Caban designs, manufactures, and tests its energy management systems at a primary facility in Plano, Texas, and has deployed solutions across 12 countries with long-term contracts with major telecommunications companies and a recent project with Digicel. The company is actively expanding deployments across Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Financially, Caban is accelerating growth after a new capital raise and additional project finance and debt facilities to support further EaaS rollouts and product innovation. Caban Systems is a renewable energy services company that offers end-to-end solutions for critical infrastructure, leveraging proprietary lithium-ion energy storage technology, intelligent remote monitoring software, and an integrated Energy-as-a-Service offering. Its solutions are designed to reduce operational expenses and increase uptime. The company is powering over 500 customer sites across 10 countries and has more than 1,400 additional sites under contract. Caban intends to use its new funding to scale domestic battery manufacturing capacity, broaden its product and service offerings, and expand into global markets. The company was founded in 2018 by Alexandra Rasch Castillo and Brian Pevear and is based in Burlingame, California. It raised $51M in a Series B to support this growth. Caban Systems produces end-to-end, software-enabled energy storage and management solutions tailored to telecommunications sites, combining long-life lithium-ion storage hardware, energy management hardware, and cloud-based remote monitoring. The company offers a fully integrated Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) product and a solar-plus-storage solution that replaces legacy lead-acid batteries and diesel generators to cut operating costs and carbon emissions while improving reliability. Its patent-pending multi-tenant energy management capabilities optimize energy usage, improve billing accuracy, and refine forecasting for operators. Caban plans to increase manufacturing capacity, scale its EaaS offering, and accelerate delivery of clean, distributed energy solutions to the global digital infrastructure sector. The company is based in Burlingame, California, and all hardware is designed and manufactured by Caban. Industry context in the article notes ~90% of mobile towers require back-up power and lithium-ion penetration is projected to rise from ~10% today to ~65% by 2030, underpinning demand for Caban’s products.