Bidgely Inc, an artificial intelligence-based energy analytics startup, said it has closed a $26 million (Rs 190 crore) round of strategic financing to bolster its UtilityAI platform.
The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures and joined by Accurant International, an investment venture of Bahman Hoveida who is co-founder and ex-CEO of Open Systems International.
The company said the round was oversubscribed and included existing investors such as Future Energy Ventures, Georgian Partners, and Constellation Technology Ventures.
Bidgely said it will be using the new funding to continue innovating around decarbonization and beneficial electrification solutions for both utilities and their customers.
Bidgely helps utilities and energy companies understand and engage with audiences.
Besides, it lets companies create personalised energy profiles for individuals for targeted marketing.
The company operates on a B2B2C (business to business to consumer) model, where it essentially offers its products and services to utility companies, who then push it to the end consumer as part of their service offerings. It has offices in California and the Netherlands.
Bidgely works with more than 30 utilities and energy retailers across the world. Khosla Ventures is also an investor in the company.
“India’s energy landscape is evolving rapidly and our work around theft detection and grid stabilisation go to the heart of problems that cost the utility industry billions of dollars a year,” said Abhay Gupta, CEO of Bidgely.
Earlier, Bidgely raised $27 million (Rs 197 crore) in a Series C round of funding in 2018.
The company has so far raised a total of $77 million (Rs 562.1 crore) in funding.
Initially Khosla Ventures had invested $3 million in Bidgely in a seed round in 2011 and had followed it up with an infusion of $5 million two years later.
Bidgely said it holds over 17 patents for its technology and partners nearly 40 global utilities.
The energy segment with a focus on renewables has remained popular among investors.
In August, Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, Paulson & Co. Inc, and Bill Gates led a financing round of $144 million in energy storage startup Ambri Inc.
In the same month, Mitsui & Co., Ltd invested Rs 30 crore ($4.1 million) in Punjab Renewable Energy Systems Pvt Ltd (PRESPL), a biomass supply-chain management company in India.
PRESPL is involved in the collection, storage, and processing of agricultural residues and the production of biomass briquettes and pellets to meet the growing demand for biomass fuel from India’s rapidly expanding bio-energy industry.