Tendril Networks, a US-headquartered energy management services provider backed by corporates Engie, SunPower, Siemens and General Electric (GE), has merged with energy data software provider Simple Energy to form a company called Uplight.
Uplight will provide software designed to help electric utilities move to a cleaner energy system by engaging with customers and power producers, through products including demand-side management and energy analytics tools.
Tendril raised an undisclosed amount from Rubicon Technology Partners, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investments and Zoma Capital in December 2018, following $5m from unnamed investors in February 2017 and another $5.1m three months later.
The 2017 rounds came after a total of $185m in funding including $7.2m from GDF Suez New Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of energy utility Engie (then still known as GDF Suez) in 2015. Solar system producer SunPower had invested $20m the previous year.
The company’s earlier backers include Siemens Venture Capital, a subsidiary of industrial equipment manufacturer Siemens, as well as industrial and power technology producer GE, VantagePoint Venture Partners, RRE Ventures, Vista Ventures, Appian Ventures, TIAA-CREF and Good Energies.
Tendril had acquired FirstFuel Software, a US-based developer of customer engagement software for the energy industry, for an undisclosed sum last month. It also bought utility management platform developer Energy Savvy in May this year.
FirstFuel had secured a total of almost $44m from investors including energy utility Eon and Electranova Capital, which is backed by fellow energy provider EDF, in addition to Next World Capital, Battery Ventures, Rockport Capital and Nth Power, as of 2015.
