AutoGrid, the distributed energy management platform backed by Stanford, will use the capital from the Eon, CLP, Innogy, Total, Ørsted and Tenaska-backed round to boost hiring.

AutoGrid, a US-based distributed energy management system developer backed by Stanford Universtiy, completed a $32m series D round on Monday that included energy utilities Eon, CLP and Innogy, petroleum supplier Total and power producers Ørsted and Tenaska. Investment firm Energy Impact Partners (EIP), growth equity firm Clearsky’s Power & Technology Fund and venture capital firms Foundation Capital and Envision Ventures also took part in the round. Total invested through its Total Energy Ventures unit. Founded in 2011, AutoGrid has created a software platform that utilises artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology to manage and optimise flexible energy resources from a range of sources. Florian Kolb, managing director of Innogy’s New Ventures unit, said: “AutoGrid leads worldwide in applying AI and big data technologies to the energy value chain. Their unique platform meets our current and future innovation requirements to develop our regulated and deregulated businesses further.” The series D funding will support hiring, as the company looks to increase its expertise in the energy, AI, big data and internet of things (IoT) areas. It intends to expand the amount of flexible energy resources on its platform to 5 GW by the end of this year. AutoGrid has now raised $75m altogether, it said. Its last funding was an undisclosed sum provided by Total Energy Ventures in September 2016. Eon, Foundation Capital and Voyager Capital had provided $12.8m for the company in 2014, two years after it received $9m from Stanford University, Foundation Capital and Voyager Capital. The company subsequently added $20m in a mid-2016 round led by EIP and backed by Eon Venture Partners, a strategic investment vehicle for Eon, as well as Envision Ventures, Foundation Capital and Voyager Capital. Total Energy Ventures president Girish Nadkarni said: “Electricity is the energy of the 21st century. It is our belief that the transition to a new, clean energy world will be enabled through digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and IoT. “AutoGrid has clearly established itself as the industry leader in this space and our partnership with them will help shape the future of new energy.” – A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global Corporate Venturing.

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