In 2018 the Energize team was executing one of our textbook deep dives. The goal of our deep dive was to find the new digital solutions that will help manage the then-imminent amplification of decentralized assets. When we came across Sitetracker and CEO, Giuseppe Incitti, we knew we had a match. Giuseppe saw the future similarly and together we agreed to invest in the company’s ambitions to bring their software to renewables.

It took a few quarters of education and sales ramping, but Sitetracker’s execution in renewables today is nothing short of masterful. Almost every sizable EV charging network now uses Sitetracker to manage deployment. The rooftop solar installer industry is coming onboard, and the energy efficiency customers are ramping up. Sitetracker is executing this growth while continuing to be the de facto deployment solution for telecom. Energize led this round and Kevin Stevens (Partner, Head of Growth Equity) is joining me on the company’s board. Energize is now the largest shareholder at Sitetracker and we believe there is tremendous opportunity ahead for the company. Our co-investors at HIG and NEA have been great partners and we are excited to continue working with them as well.

The Energize blog post can be found here, and is pasted below. Sitetracker’s press release is here.

Why We’re Continuing to Invest in Sitetracker

We’re excited to announce Energize’s continued investment in Sitetracker, the operations management software for renewable energy and telecommunications infrastructure deployment, marking our third investment in the company. Sitetracker has raised $96M of new capital, including a $66M Series D led by Energize and another $30M in debt financing from BridgeBank. Existing investors H.I.G. Growth Partners, National Grid Partners, Clearvision Ventures and others joined us in the Series D financing alongside new investors NTT Docomo Ventures, Kingfisher Investment Advisors and Raine Next-Gen Communications. This is an investment out of our growth equity fund, and Kevin Stevens, a partner and head of Energize’s growth equity platform, joins the company’s board of directors.

This latest funding brings Sitetracker’s total capital raised to nearly $200 million and will help the company support the rapid energy transition while cementing their standing as the telecom industry’s deployment software of choice.

The Digital Backbone for the Next Generation of Clean Energy

The tailwinds that prompted Energize’s 2019 Series B investment in Sitetracker have grown even stronger over the last three years, as global critical infrastructure deployment has scaled to accommodate the buildout of 5G networks and a cleaner, more distributed energy grid. When Energize initially invested in Sitetracker, we were guided by our thesis that the decentralization of telecom assets was a preview of the transformation awaiting the energy sector. Once a system composed strictly of poles, wires and underground cables, the telecom industry built more cell towers between 2018 and 2021 than it had in the last seven years combined, bringing the total number of operating cell towers in the U.S. to more than 417,000. That growth has only accelerated: the total number of towers and cells globally now exceeds 5 million. The Sitetracker team had already established their platform as the go-to software for telecom companies at the time of our initial investment, and they’ve continued to strengthen their market leadership in the time since by building a customer base that includes AT&T, Lumen, Zayo and British Telecom.

The energy sector is undergoing a similar transformation, as renewable energy sources are reconfiguring a system that was once primarily power plants, poles and wires. Hopefully by now you’ve seen our Electrifying Everything Deep Dive which includes our mental model for innovation cycles within energy technology:

1. Hardware costs are driven down by R&D investments where market share shifts to the lowest cost provider and customers benefit from commoditization.

2. To meet the demand created by falling prices, new businesses arise with distinctive offerings that are only available by leveraging scale.

3. These businesses eventually need software that uniquely caters to their problems; after attempting in-house solutions, they often turn to external providers that can better meet their needs.

Sitetracker’s platform fits firmly in the third category. Their software allows energy companies – including current customers ChargePoint, NextEra Energy, Southern Company and Duke Energy – to effectively deploy sustainable infrastructure. Solar developers, for example, can use Sitetracker to manage permitting, interconnection requests and construction progress, providing transparency and accelerating time to revenue for their customers. When applied to EV charging infrastructure, developers can oversee the full breadth of chargepoint installation, from managing construction timelines and permitting to ongoing maintenance and vendor management.

Given the rate the energy sector is deploying distributed assets, Sitetracker’s technology solution can help enable outsized growth. The solar industry expects to add over 700 GW of capacity between now and the end of the decade – a number that was estimated before the U.S. passed the Inflation Reduction Act intended to advance clean energy adoption. And the U.S. has installed approximately 120,000 active public EV charging ports to date, with Sitetracker’s current customers owning nearly 50 percent of that total market and accounting for much of the planned growth between now and 2025.

Looking Ahead: Growing Alongside Digitization and Sustainability Tailwinds

Sitetracker’s team is adept at converting favorable tailwinds into tremendous market capture. Their software has delivered a 27 percent average increase in project turnaround for their customer base spanning telecom, energy, construction and engineering, real estate and media. And they continue to set their sights on customer success and growth. Sitetracker is currently operating in 30 countries, with plans to deploy their platform to more than 100 countries by the end of 2024. So far in 2022, the team has been building out their software solution offerings, expanding their platform’s mobile functionality and forming partnerships in the 5G space.

We’re excited to support Sitetracker CEO Giuseppe Incitti and his team as they continue to accelerate critical infrastructure deployment.

Some hires are so obvious that you immediately can’t imagine scaling without them. When we hired Kevin Stevens to take the lead on our growth platform we immediately unlocked scale as our firm went to a multi-strategy model.

Our most recent hire for the Growth platform brings the same contribution expectations. This week we formally announced that Meredith Breach joined Team Energize. Meredith becomes the second dedicated resource to our Growth platform and will help with origination, deal structuring and execution, and ultimately portfolio value and governance coverage. Meredith joins us after spending over 5 years at Vista Equity Partners. We were able to meet and get to know Meredith over a number of months and her skillset and goals are aligned with our lofty ambitions for the growth strategy. Vista Equity is one of the premier growth and control technology investors and we are excited to combine Energize’s approach to investment discovery and domain expertise with Meredith’s more traditional growth equity software background.

Back to back funding announcements!!

Energize Ventures goal to capitalize and support the best companies within the sustainability software stack continues as we lead the €30M Series A+ round into Monta.

Monta is the premier digital backbone for the EV charging industry, enabling a simple and seamless control strategy for site owners, fleet operators, and consumers. We are excited to partner with Casper H Rasmussen and  Anders M., and the whole team Monta team. Casper’s quote in the article below shows our experience in the space.

Juan Muldoon and Mark Tomasovic have been spearheading our most recent effort into the space with tremendous help from our entire team. This is Energize Ventures fourth investment in the digital infrastructure that enables the new scale of EVs and EV charging, alongside Smartcar, TWAICE, and Sitetracker.

We are fortunate to again invest with CREANDUM and join Pale blue dot in this round.

We have already had a tremendous amount of pick-up, including an article in Techcrunch. I love this quote from Casper, the CEO of Monta:

We were really impressed by how much knowledge Juan Muldoon and the entire Energize Ventures team had about the EV market when we first connected. For Energize, Monta represents their third investment in digital solutions to support the buildout of EV charging infrastructure,” notes Rasmussen. “Compared to our conversations with other prospective investors, the topics were on a different level. We spoke in-depth about the challenges and opportunities with our software approach. To be honest, we had not planned on taking on a new investment, but from the beginning, we could feel that this partnership was a very good match. Even over the last few months, we are confident that our decision to work closely with electrification experts who understand the entire ecosystem is the right choice as we continue to scale

Casper Rasmussen, CEO of Monta

Press release here:

Monta lands 30M EUR in additional financing to accelerate the buildout of EV charging infrastructure 

Company will use the funding to open up new markets, create transparency within the electricity market, and digitalize the power grid infrastructure.

Monta, the only all-in-one EV charging management platform, today announced it has closed an additional EUR 30 million as part of a Series A+ round led by Energize Ventures, a leading global investment manager accelerating digital innovation for energy and sustainability, with participation from returning investors Creandum, Pale Blue Dot, byFounders, and Headline. The latest financing brings Monta’s total to EUR 50 million.

While 2021 European EV sales increased by more than 65% compared to 2020, the lack of EV charging infrastructure is still one of the biggest hurdles to mass adoption. Not only do nearly 3,000 new public charge points need to be built each week for Europe to reach its target of operating one million charge points by 2025, but the customer experience is often hampered by a highly fragmented ecosystem of charge point operators and owners. 

Led by a team of seasoned entrepreneurs with experience managing large software development organizations, Monta is delivering an all-in-one EV charging platform that simplifies and streamlines deployment, use, and management of EV charging infrastructure. Via the Monta platform, charge point owners have full visibility into charge point use, pricing, access, and transactions. For EV drivers, Monta provides reservation, virtual queuing, and payment features under one platform as well as access to public charge points. 

“We are aiming to fully digitalize the EV ecosystem to tackle all the immediate challenges within the industry and build toward a more transparent and flexible future. By partnering with hardware OEMs we can deliver new features straight out of the box, like our new feature that allows operators to set a percentage on top of the spot price in order to follow the market fluctuations and automatically offer a fair price for charging, ” says Casper Rasmussen, Monta CEO. “The investment from Energize and our returning investors is a strong vote of confidence in our vision, team, and software as the cornerstone of the mobility infrastructure of the future.”

Monta’s EV charging management platform is used by notable utility, aviation, and transportation industry companies such as Vestas, CPH Airport, and PostNord as well as wholesalers, who are leveraging Monta to upskill installers. Since the company’s latest financing in January 2022, Monta has secured strategic partnerships with hardware manufacturers to launch its Powered by Monta (PBM) program in multiple markets. Key partners include Garo, CTEK, and ABB which each boast a range of charge points in Europe as well as Zaptec, which recently launched Zaptec Park, a co-branded app for its users.

“The market penetration of electric vehicles is climbing sharply as economic, regulatory, and climate levers accelerate EV adoption – and deployment of charging infrastructure has to keep pace. We expect more than 1.6 million public chargers and 20 million private charging stations to be deployed in the U.S. and Europe by 2025,” said Juan Muldoon, Partner at Energize Ventures. “As the market for charge point hardware grows and commoditizes, Monta offers a software solution that enables a consistent, improved charging experience for players throughout the EV charging value chain – from installers to drivers. We’re thrilled to partner with the Monta team as they pave the way for a more scalable and sustainable EV infrastructure.”

Monta will leverage the additional investment to open up new markets including North America, while consolidating its position in Scandinavia, the UK, and Germany, all of which have legislation in place slated to ban new ICE vehicle sales by 2025, 2030, and 2035 respectively. To further support the needs of the EU and the US – which has set a goal for 50% of its car sales to be EVs by 2030 – Monta will ramp up its product innovations and develop critical features to help EV drivers and charge point owners seamlessly navigate the industry.

Looking further ahead, Monta seeks to expand its product development to include grid management services amid challenges as more EVs hit the roads. Ultimately, the company expects to facilitate the sale of excess power back to the grid (V2G), manage interoperability with other zero carbon technologies (V2H, V2X), aid in the creation of local energy markets, and empower end users with ownership over their energy consumption. 

“The ability to take advantage of these new opportunities requires changes in information flows among grid devices as well as innovations in communication and coordination tools that increase the observability, predictability, and controllability of the grid. The societal impact and environmental potential of these technologies are massive. Monta is at the forefront of developing the systems needed to monitor and reward this flexibility to create an equitable energy solution for all EV drivers,” said Casper Rasmussen. 

The deal is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approval.

About Monta

Monta is the operating platform powering the EV ecosystem serving drivers, companies, cities, and the electricity grid with one integrated software solution. We believe that accelerating and democratizing the adoption of EV technology is key to fostering the future we like to imagine. Monta’s mission is to provide the best technology solutions for the entire EV charging cycle. At our core, we provide access, stability and reliability to the mobility transformation. We’re here to make the transition to electric mobility as seamless and exciting as possible with one integrated software built to EV better.

About Energize Ventures

Energize Ventures is a leading global alternative investment manager focused on accelerating digital transformation in energy and sustainability. Founded in 2016, Energize has funded 23 companies to-date and is backed by strategic and institutional LPs including CDPQ, Invenergy, Schneider Electric, General Electric, Caterpillar, and more. With an unmatched depth and breadth of industry and operational expertise, Energize works in partnership with its portfolio companies to realize their full potential from early commercialization to growth scaling and into the public markets. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc. 

Media Contact

Today the Energize team is announcing one of our most recent investments. I like to tell the team how we should “zig” when the market “zags” and some of our upcoming investments announcements (this one included) are the Energize team executing with this mindset. Our carbon market thesis was a few years in the works when we met the Patch team late last year. Our prepared mind research approach made it a slam dunk partnership and I am thrilled that we get to work with Brennan and Aaron going forward. This is also the third time we are working with Andreessen Horowitz and the third time with Coatue. There is an emerging group of generalists that have grasped the sustainability transition and Energize is glad to be their partner of choice in the theme.

PATCH RAISES $55M SERIES B, EMBEDDING CLIMATE ACTION DIRECTLY INTO THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

Led by Energize Ventures, this latest funding round accelerates Patch’s ability to fulfill growing global demand for companies to take climate action through carbon markets 

September 13, 2022 – Patch, the climate-tech company that is making meaningful climate action a part of everyone’s business, announced today a $55M series B funding round, customer growth and overall company momentum. Energize Ventures led the round with participation from new and existing investors including Coatue Management and Andreessen Horowitz, bringing the company to a total of $80M in funding to date. 

Scientific consensus from the UN IPCC shows that reaching global climate goals will require carbon removal to scale 1 million times current capacity by 2050. Patch plays an essential role at the intersection of climate and technology by powering the ability to embed, through an enterprise grade API, climate action into every product and service – a critical component to achieving this level of scale. 

With Patch’s platform, businesses of any size, with any budget, can easily purchase carbon credits as a means of taking climate action. The transparent infrastructure is transforming a traditionally complex and opaque system for purchasing carbon credits. Patch also provides those developing the climate solutions with the infrastructure they need to grow and scale their businesses, facilitating impactful transactions on the voluntary carbon market, which is projected to become a $100B market by 2050.

More than 100 Corporate Customers Spanning E-Commerce to Financial Services

In the last year, Patch saw incredible demand, growing its customer base five times to more than 100 companies worldwide. Using Patch, forward-thinking companies across all industries are incorporating climate action directly into their business: 

• Afterpay, the buy now pay later group, touted the ease of Patch integration which was built into Afterpay’s system in less than three months and now enables thousands of customers to both understand and take action to neutralize the emissions associated with their purchases. 
• European investor, EQT, has leveraged Patch to position themselves at the forefront of climate innovation, using the platform to neutralize their own carbon footprint through bold investments in frontier technologies. 
• Shop Apotheke Europe – one of Europe’s leading e-pharmacies – used Patch to procure credits that will neutralize their company’s emissions for the first half of 2022, part of the company’s robust decoupling measures. 
• Restaurant company Just Salad recently integrated Patch right into their mobile app, offering customers the ability to easily neutralize the carbon footprint of their lunch order with one simple swipe.

Company Momentum Towards Scaling Climate Action

Patch has quickly grown its team by 400 percent to more than 60 employees worldwide in the last 12 months and opened a European headquarters in London. The company continues to attract top talent from leading technology companies like Shopify, Stripe and Plaid, leveraging veteran tech expertise to address the most important problem to solve of our time. 

This latest funding round will continue to support hiring, growth into new markets and development of an expanding technology footprint, putting the company on track to deliver massive climate impact across the globe. 

Supporting Quotes

“The market for carbon credits is on a trajectory to reach $50 billion in the next 10 years, making it one of the largest and most paramount markets of our time,” said Energize Ventures Partner Tyler Lancaster, who joins the Patch board of directors. “However, today’s carbon credit infrastructure is highly fragmented and lacks standardization – making it difficult and complex to tap into. Patch’s platform provides a much-needed digital backbone that simplifies the transaction complexity of the carbon management ecosystem for both buyers and suppliers, increases transparency, and enables the carbon market to scale to meet global climate goals.”

“We are at a crucial pivot point, and it’s essential we get as many companies as possible taking action to reverse climate change, but many struggle with how to integrate this action into their business,” said Brennan Spellacy, CEO and co-founder of Patch. “At Patch, we are changing that. Our infrastructure lowers the barrier to entry for both businesses and climate project developers looking to enter the carbon market which, in turn, could help unlock 20% of the climate change solution the world so desperately needs.”

About Patch

Patch is the platform scaling unified climate action. With Patch, companies can embed climate action into their own products, neutralizing the carbon impact of everyday transactions like shipping, travel and financial services. Companies can also compensate for emissions within their own operations and supply chain using Patch. Whether leveraging an API integration or directly purchasing trusted credits, Patch is the platform for businesses and consumers to seamlessly take meaningful climate action. For more information, visit patch.io.

About Energize Ventures

Energize Ventures is a leading global alternative investment manager focused on accelerating digital transformation in energy and sustainability. Founded in 2016, Energize has funded 22 companies to-date and is backed by strategic and institutional LPs including CDPQ, Invenergy, Schneider Electric, General Electric, Caterpillar, and more. With an unmatched depth and breadth of industry and operational expertise, Energize works in partnership with its portfolio companies to realize their full potential from early commercialization to growth scaling and into the public markets. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc. 

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Contact

Katie Lyons

[email protected]