GreenSync raises $11.5m from CEFC, Southern Cross Venture Partners

Australian energy software provider GreenSync has raised $11.5 million in venture funding to scale up its operations. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will invest $5 million, while The Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund will contribute $5 million.

GreenSync says that it will use the funding to continue to develop its product portfolio for the Australian market while expanding its overseas operations. Alongside its Melbourne headquarters, GreenSync operates an office in Singapore.

The $5 million in CEFC investment comes via its Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which draws on the expertise of both the CEFC and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

“The CEFC’s investment in GreenSync is about helping lower capital costs in the decentralised energy model of the future, further reducing the cost of clean energy while enabling Australia to better manage its supply and demand peaks,” said CEFC Investment Development Director Blair Pritchard, in a statement.

“GreenSync’s technology acts like the brain and spinal cord of the smart grid, giving industrial and commercial sites, households and businesses access to the appropriate energy source at the right time, improving reliability and penetration of renewable sources.”

GreenSync initially provided electricity control systems through which industrial and commercial customers could avoid peak charges.

It has since evolved more sophisticated energy control soft and hardware, allowing businesses and most-recently utilities and grid operators to integrate distributed generation and storage while tapping demand response capabilities and a range of variable loads like heat pumps and lighting.

“Our transformation from a company offering peak demand management services to a company offering broad spectrum control and optimisation of grids with energy resources and battery storage, is reflective of the rapid changes underway in Australia and around the world,” said GreenSync founder and CEO Phil Blythe.

“Our hardware and software provide smart layers of control that help better manage energy consumption. We’re aiming to optimise electricity grids to enable a supply that contains more than 80 percent renewable energy.”

Southern Cross Venture Partners manager the Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund, which is a co-investment between ARENA and Softbank China Venture Capital.