GridPoint, Inc., a company developing smart grid platforms, closed a $48.5 million Series D financing led by Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS)and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group.
It also announced the appointment of new members to its board of directors, including the CTO of Duke Energy and the CEO of US Power Generating Company. New GridPoint shareholders include New Enterprise Associates, Perella Weinberg Partners, and Robeco, a subsidiary of Rabobank Group. Since the company’s inception in November 2003, GridPoint has raised $88 million in equity capital.
“This significant financing demonstrates investor confidence in building an intelligent electric grid that integrates distributed clean technologies,” said Peter L. Corsell, President and CEO of GridPoint. “Just as the Internet forever changed communication and commerce, the Smart Grid will revolutionize the delivery and consumption of electric power.”
GridPoint is the pioneer of an innovative smart grid platform that aligns the interests of electric utilities, consumers and the environment. The platform applies information technology to the electric grid to provide utilities with an intelligent network of distributed resources (e.g., advanced load control devices, batteries, solar systems) that reside at the point of consumption – the home or business. Additionally, the platform’s modular, scaleable and upgradeable architecture enables utilities to create a practical path for integrating new clean technologies (e.g., plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cells).
During peak demand periods, the platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by discharging stored power or reducing loads with minimal impact on customers (i.e., controlling temperature versus shutting down air conditioners). Utilities can also optimize existing baseload generation assets and relieve stress on transmission and distribution (T&D) lines.
The platform serves as a virtual peaking power plant, enabling utilities to avoid the regulatory, environmental and “time-to-build” hurdles associated with building centralized plants while fueling the mass adoption of renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions and conserving fuel, capital and land resources.
For consumers, GridPoint’s platform provides protection from power outages, increases energy efficiency through online energy management and integrates utility-controlled renewable energy systems, paving the way for the commercial success of residential and light commercial solar and wind energy sources.
Last month, GridPoint was selected as the overall winner by AlwaysOn GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies for 2007. Companies were peer-nominated, with AlwaysOn receiving more than 500 nominations from venture investors, investment bankers and other industry experts.
Additionally, GridPoint received the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Green Excellence in recognition of its success in pioneering a way to harness load management and distributed generation to achieve environmental sustainability.
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