Utilidata Closes $20 Million Series B Financing, Led by Formation 8 and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures
December 10, 2013
For Immediate Release
Financing will support expansion of the company’s product base in North America, Asia, and the Middle East
Providence, Rhode Island (December 10, 2013) Utilidata, Inc., a leading supplier of voltage optimization and digital automation systems for the electric utility industry, today announced that it has secured more than $20 million in Series B financing. Formation 8 Partners and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (‘SAEV’) led the round and were joined by existing investors Braemar Energy Ventures and American Electric Power – one of the nation’s largest utilities. The funding will allow Utilidata to bring new advances and innovation related to digital automation, voltage optimization and systems management to market, and further expands its presence in North America, Asia and the Middle East. Formation 8 founder, Jim Kim, will join Utilidata’s board of directors.
“Utilidata sits at a unique intersection of IT data analysis and energy,” said Mr. Kim. “The company’s ability to access truly unique data about the power grid, while providing significant customer savings through automated voltage and VAR optimization, will help utilities solve some very big challenges related to distributed generation, reliability and security. We also see a big opportunity to scale this technology in Asia, where the benefits of increased efficiency and intelligent control could reduce the cost of electricity, enabling more sustainable growth.”
In addition to securing opportunities in Asia, the company is looking forward to its partnership with Saudi Aramco, a major industrial electricity consumer with substantial in-house power distribution assets. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest global users of electricity, experiencing rapid industrial and economic growth. Utilidata’s voltage and VAR optimization systems have the potential to create significant economic benefits through lower energy consumption, reduced peak demand, improved distribution grid capacity, and better visibility over grid operations in the Kingdom.
“We are excited to onboard such a deeply strategic and well-known group of investors with strong ties to our industry. Both Formation 8 and Saudi Aramco bring together world-class expertise and access to some of the largest markets in Asia and the Middle East. The investment group also forms a nexus of thinking around smart enterprise management and industrial efficiency,” said Scott DePasquale, Chairman and CEO of Utilidata.
About UtiliData
Utilidata is a leading energy technology company that is digitizing the grid edge to unleash the full potential of clean energy. The company’s patented real-time machine learning software leverages data from every point on the distribution grid to enhance visibility, optimize operations, detect anomalies, and integrate distributed energy resources. For more information, visit utilidata.com or follow @Utilidata on Twitter.
About Formation 8
Formation 8 is a leading venture capital firm that provides capital and strategic support for technology and energy technology companies. Formation 8 combines deep operating and investing experience to partner with the best entrepreneurs and transform important global industries. The firm is based in San Francisco and has offices in Palo Alto, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. For more information, visit www.formation8.com.
About Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures
Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures is the corporate venturing subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the world’s leading fully integrated energy and petrochemical enterprise. Headquartered in Dhahran with offices in North America and Europe, SAEV’s mission is to invest globally in start-ups and high growth companies with technologies of strategic importance to its parent, Saudi Aramco. For more information about SAEV, please see www.aramcoventures.com.
About Braemar Energy Ventures
Founded in 2003, Braemar Energy Ventures is a leading venture capital firm focused on investing in transformative energy-tech and related companies contributing to global sustainability and combating climate change. Using sector expertise and experience, Braemar aims to be an engaged partner with its portfolio companies to best help them navigate the path to creating significant global impact. For more information, visit braemarenergy.com.