Melbourne-based energy tech startup GreenSync has raised $11.5 million in a Series B funding round led by the federal government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Southern Cross Venture Partners (SCVP), and a private fund.
To date, the startup has raised a total of $13 million. The round had CEFC, which administers the government’s Clean Energy Innovation Fund, contribute $5 million, with SCVP, backed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and Softbank China Capital, also contributing $5 million.
GreenSync will use the funds to further develop its energy-tech product suit for the Australian market, expand its technology offerings to overseas markets, scale up operations, and help fund an expansion into Asia.
Using technology to help “reimagine the entire spectrum of the energy industry,” GreenSync, with its proprietary technology platform allows transmission and distribution companies, as well as large industrial facilities, commercial facilities, residential precincts, and remote precincts to harness the power of renewable energy and harmonize their use of traditional, renewable, and stored energy resources.
GreenSync initially provided electricity control systems through which industrial and commercial customers could avoid peak charges.
It has since evolved more sophisticated energy control soft and hardware, allowing businesses and most-recently utilities and grid operators to integrate distributed generation and storage while tapping demand response capabilities and a range of variable loads like heat pumps and lighting.
GreenSync’s core software platform is designed to manage and orchestrate distributed electricity generation and storage systems. Founder and CEO Phil Blythe said,
Distributed energy is a major transformational shift that we’re seeing in Australia, and Australia is very much at the forefront of this globally. As solar goes on roofs, as there’s an increase in renewables, as we’re starting to move away from coal-fired generation to wind and solar energy, we needed a quantum shift in the technology we use to manage grids.
On the investment, CEFC Investment Development Director Blair Pritchard said,
The CEFC’s investment in GreenSync is about helping lower capital costs in the decentralized energy model of the future, further reducing the cost of clean energy while enabling Australia to better manage its supply and demand peaks.
The Series B funding would help commoditize GreenSync’s technology so that utilities around the world can start to use it ‘out of the box’. Blythe further adds,
Having the financial backing of CEFC and Southern Cross Venture Partners further legitimizes the significance of GreenSync’s technology and our future role in building a sustainable energy economy for our partners and customers, not just in Australia but globally.
He then concludes saying,
There is huge potential for GreenSync internationally and with our strong market position in Australia, we look forward to starting the journey of mapping the global grid.
