Gridware – a continuous power grid monitoring solution provider – announced a Series A funding round of $26.4 million led by Sequoia Capital. The funding will enable Gridware to scale further production of Gridscope devices and the Gridware monitoring and analytics service, which provides continuous power grid monitoring 24 hours per day to help utilities prepare for and respond to a growing number of risks.
Gridware technologies provide a comprehensive service for power utilities to measure, understand, and take decisive action to protect the grid. By utilizing a network of advanced Gridscope sensors and on-device analysis, Gridware continuously monitors key grid assets, providing real-time insights into grid health. Thanks to its independent power supply, the platform ensures uninterrupted monitoring even when power lines are de-energized.
With multiple communication methods, including cellular, satellite, and device-to-device networking, Gridware makes sure that grid operators receive timely alerts about hazards and faults, no matter when or where they occur. This integrated approach empowers utilities to take proactive action, improve safety, and enhance grid reliability.
These continuous measurements of environmental stressors, such as anomalous vibrations caused by tree branches falling on powerlines, feed the Gridscope’s on-device analytics suite and provide game-changing detail for utilities to manage power delivery assets better. Prior to Gridware, electric utility operators had very little visibility into where to begin looking for faults.
Since integrating Gridscope, some Gridware customers have reduced outage durations by more than 70 percent through a more efficient search process where the technology has helped to identify and address issues quickly. And Gridscope units also enable improved asset management, allowing for planned predictive maintenance to further reduce downtime and outages.
Gridware co-founder and CEO Tim Barat knows the potentially devastating effects of unmonitored power lines. He previously worked as a lineman in Australia, including during what became known as the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. This experience led him on the path to creating Gridware with fellow University of California-Berkeley graduate students Abdulrahman Bin Omar and Hall Chen.
Following a successful initial pilot with California-based PG&E last year, the utility has since expanded to a large-scale deployment covering more than 1,000 miles of power lines and 10,000 poles. Today, Gridware is trusted by utilities across North America, and it serves millions of customers across ten U.S. states and counting.
During the past year, Gridware has increased its revenue growth by seven times. And this funding round powers Gridware with additional capital to scale its Gridscope manufacturing production, expand its staff, and reach a broader set of utility partners.
KEY QUOTES:
“With Gridscope units placed on power poles, utilities can now identify and address hazards within minutes instead of hours or days, before they result in lengthy outages or life-threatening disasters. On one of the hottest days of the year, our technology detected a tree that had fallen onto power lines. Thanks to a notification from a nearby Gridscope, the utility customer quickly addressed the danger, ultimately averting what could have been a catastrophic wildfire. This incident served as a powerful reminder of the vital role Gridware plays in protecting both communities and the environment.”
– Tim Barat, Co-Founder and CEO of Gridware
“Our country depends on the electric grid, yet until now, utilities have been operating it without reasonable monitoring capabilities. Gridware gives utilities real-time visibility into the health of the grid, allowing them to prevent outages, stop wildfires, and save lives. A more resilient grid, by extension, will lead to a more resilient economy and society, and we are proud to partner with Tim, Hall, and Omar in this next phase of their journey.”
– Bryan Schreier from Sequoia Capital
