AAA AutoGrid grips $85m in series D-2 funding

AutoGrid grips $85m in series D-2 funding

SE Ventures, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of energy and automation system producer Schneider Electric, has led an $85m series D-2 round for US-based energy management technology developer AutoGrid.

Solar inverter producer SolarEdge Technologies, software provider Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, conglomerate GS Group, oil and gas suppliers Shell and TotalEnergies, energy provider National Grid and Moore Strategic Ventures also took part in the round.

GS Group, National Grid, Shell and TotalEnergies were represented by GS Futures, National Grid Partners, Shell Ventures and TotalEnergies Ventures respectively.

AutoGrid has built software tools that enable energy utilities, electricity distributors, renewable energy suppliers and energy service providers to run their operations and manage their supply chains more efficiently.

SE Ventures disclosed in May 2019 it had invested in the company to become a major shareholder, four months after Shell Ventures had provided a similarly undisclosed amount in series D funding for the company.

Autogrid had secured $32m in series D financing the previous year from renewable energy provider Orsted, TotalEnergies Ventures (then Total Energy Ventures), energy utilities CLP, Innogy, Tenaska and Eon, Clearsky Power & Technology Fund, Foundation Capital, Envision Ventures and Energy Impact Partners (EIP).

The company had completed a $20m series C round in 2016 led by EIP and backed by Eon Venture Partners, the predecessor of Eon’s Future Energy Ventures unit, as well as Envision Ventures, Foundation Capital and Voyager Capital.

Eon, Foundation Capital and Voyager Capital had supplied $12.8m for AutoGrid two years before, the last two having teamed up with Stanford University to inject $9m into the company in 2012.

By Edison Fu

Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.