Energy monitoring platform Wattwatchers nets $5.3 million in Series B investment

Australian-grown energy technology company Wattwatchers has raised more than $5.3 million through a ‘series B’ investment round that the company says will help dramatically accelerate the deployment of its energy monitoring and optimisation platform.

Wattwatchers markets both hardware and software data gathering platforms that to monitor and optimise the performance of energy systems, including rooftop solar installations and the various components of microgrid systems.

The platform can be extended to monitor the performance of a wide range of energy heavy household appliances, including air conditioning, hot water systems and electric vehicle charging.

As part of a ‘Series B’ venture capital raising, Wattwatchers has secured a $5.3 million investment from private equity investor Kilara Capital.

The company said it has already deployed more than 50,000 of its energy monitoring devices globally and with the additional investments from Kilara Capital and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), it anticipates that it will be able to ramp up the distribution of its devices to at least 50,000 installations a year.

Wattwatchers says that through the performance enhancements that can be achieved through the installation of its monitoring devices, including by optimising the performance of rooftop solar installations, each device is estimated to achieve at least 1 tonne of additional carbon dioxide emissions reduction over its operational life.

“Having energy data helps households to save on electricity costs in multiple ways, and quickly adds up to hundreds of dollars a year,” Wattwatchers CEO Gavin Dietz said.

“The typical three-bedroom freestanding home can save hundreds of dollars each year just by shifting their energy use and energy waste through the use of data.”

“Nearly a quarter of Australian homes have rooftop solar. These homes are in a great position to use data to boost the return on their investment in renewable generation – with savings of $500-$1,000 a year through cutting waste, getting on the best plan, and above all optimising electricity use to maximise self-consumption of their own free-from-the-sun electrons,” Dietz added.

The company says that it is well-positioned to take advantage of a number of emerging trends in the energy space, including the emergence of markets for demand response, virtual power plants, and the increased decentralisation and digitalisation of the electricity sector.

Market regulators in Australia are increasingly playing catch-up with emerging energy technologies, including the growing practice of households and businesses acting as both consumers and producers of electricity.

The CEFC increased its commitments to Wattwatchers as part of the ‘series B’ round, increasing its total investments to $2.5 million, made through its Innovation Fund.

Innovation Fund executive director Ben Gust said investment injection into Wattwatchers should accelerate the deployment of its monitoring and optimisation platform into households.

“The funds raised in this round will support the expansion of the platform into new areas, including smart home integration, certified metering and self-installed solar monitoring,” Gust said.

“Wattwatchers is continuing to develop innovative solutions to deliver real-time data on energy usage, important work which will further empower Australian households and businesses to manage their energy usage.”

Wattwatchers previously secured funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to support the development of a new ‘My Energy Marketplace’ to support participation in virtual power plant (VPP) and Demand Response (DR) initiatives, as well as the MyTown Microgrid platform, to aid in the optimisation of rooftop solar and storage in microgrid applications.