Smart money flocks towards smart grid start ups

US smart grid specialist eMeter has this week announced that it has secured $12.5m in funding, in the latest in a series of deals highlighting the attractiveness of the technology to investors.

California-based eMeter provides the software that underpins many smart meter technologies, providing utilities with a data management suite for processing, analysing and reporting the data captured using advanced metering technologies.

The company claims to have 20m meters under contract and benefits from a hardware independent business model that allows it to work with any electricity, gas or water utility that is installing advanced metering and smart grid technologies.
Cree Edwards, chief executive and founder of eMeter, said the latest funding round would allow the company to continue to invest in improving its software and infrastructure, without compromising its independent status. "This independence ensures that our utility customers can buy whatever [advanced metering] technology they desire – a key need in the rapidly evolving Smart Grid market," he said.

The funding round was led by Siemens Corporation (NYSE:SI) with contributions from Foundation Capital and DBL Investors, and as part of the deal Siemens' Sector Energy division will now begin to offer eMeter's technology to its customers.

"Coupling this technology with our global sales coverage will provide utilities with a reliable cornerstone for their SmartGrid investments," Ralf Christian, CEO of the Power Distribution Division, Siemens Sector Energy. "The information held in the meter data management [software] can then be exploited across a utility's operations together with Siemens’ broad portfolio of power distribution solutions."

The deal is the latest in a line of smart meter specialists to attract venture capital as utilities the world over show growing interest in smart grid technologies that provide users with richer, real time energy use data, which advocates claim encourages firms and individuals to curb their energy use.

Colorado-based Tendril, which provides a standard-based hardware and software system capable of monitoring and reporting on consumer's energy use, recently secured $12m in venture capital in a funding round led by RRE Ventures, while Washington-based GridPoint last month announced that it had secured $15m from alternative energy investor Quercus Trust to help support the development of its grid management platform.

The company, which has secured $102m in equity capital since it was founded in 2003, offers a platform capable of intelligently balancing energy supply and demand during peak demand periods. GridPoint claims this functionality enables online energy management and paves the way for more distributed energy grids that draw energy from residential and light commercial solar and wind energy sources and electric car batteries.