AFRICA – SparkMeter, a venture provider of grid management services, equipment, and software solutions that increase access to electricity in underserved communities across Africa, Asia and the Americas, closed a US$12m Series A financing.
The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, alongside Goodwell Investments, in partnership with Alitheia Capital, Total Energy Ventures, and other notable investors.
The funding will allow the company to launch its new Digital Solutions offering, connecting smart grid data insights to business operations for large electricity distribution utilities in emerging markets.
Led by Daniel Schnitzer, co-founder and CEO, SparkMeter is also launching Digital Solutions to help large incumbent distribution utilities digitalize their operations, assess areas for improvement, and deploy customized algorithms and solutions to improve business performance.
“The team at SparkMeter has developed a disruptive, low-cost and highly impactful grid management solution, enabling utilities in developing countries to simultaneously improve electricity access and mitigate carbon emissions,” said Daniel.
“Close to one billion people globally live without access to electricity while another billion have unreliable access, and we have an obligation to address this inequity sustainably and cost-effectively. Our team at Clean Energy Ventures believes that SparkMeter’s solution has the potential to mitigate over 2.5 gigatons of CO2e between now and 2050 if widely deployed.”
The Digital Solutions not only provides this visibility, the service goes even further – enabling utilities to avoid system capital upgrades through customized solutions including non-wires alternatives like distributed energy resources and load management.
“In Africa, equitable energy access is top of mind for many local communities, and therefore a growing focus for our uMunthu Fund. SparkMeter’s technology has the potential to revolutionize how we address electricity access in markets like Nigeria and Kenya,” said Mobola da-Silva, Investment Principal at Alitheia Capital, Goodwell Investments West Africa partner.
“We are extremely pleased to be SparkMeter’s first major investor in Africa and look forward to supporting the company to expand and reach its business and social impact goals across the continent.”
As SparkMeter expands its market presence across Africa and Asia, its products open up opportunities for distribution utilities globally to improve their financial and environmental sustainability through the data analytics provided by SparkMeter.
The company has also received funding from Lateral Capital, Schmidt Family Foundation, Incite Capital, Powerhouse Fund, Shell Foundation, Factor[e], The E8 Fund, and other investors.
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