US-based energy optimisation service provider Stem closed the $12m first tranche of its series C round today, with the tranche led by diversified conglomerate Mitsui.
Founded in 2009 as Powergetics, Stem has developed an energy storage system linked to a cloud-based big data and predictive analytics platform that enables businesses to store energy on-site and source it at off-peak times, reducing their electricity costs in the process.
The company plans to use the funding to further develop its technology and intends to leverage Mitsui’s customer base and sales and marketing resources to expand into new markets.
Stem previously raised $27m from a series B round that closed in January this year. Industrial conglomerate GE’s corporate venturing unit, GE Ventures, energy company Iberdrola and investment firm Angeleno Group provided the $15m first tranche of the round in December 2013.
Total Energy Ventures and Constellation Technology Ventures, the respective corporate venturing subsidiaries of petroleum producer Total and energy company Exelon, funded a $12m extension in January.
Stem attracted $10.2m in 2011 for its series A round from Angeleno Group and Greener Capital. Clean Fleet Investors provided $5m in debt financing in 2013, which followed on from a further $2.9m in debt secured in 2011.
Hirohiko Miyata, general manager of Mitsui’s power projects development division, said: “The opportunity for distributed storage solutions like Stem is rapidly expanding across international markets, including our native Japan. We see much promise in the company’s unique approach to strengthen the changing grid landscape.”