Mercom Capital reports that Venture capital (VC) funding for smart grid companies have reached $81 million in 13 deals during Q2 14, compared to $101 million in 21 deals during the first quarter.
The top VC-funded companies in Q2 14 included ChargePoint, provider of open EV charging network, which raised $22.6 million, Sunverge Energy, distributed energy management systems manufacturers raised $15 million and On-Ramp Wireless, wireless solution developers received $13.6 million.
Gridco Systems, smart power management technology providers raised $12 million and GeoDigital, providers of geospatial information solutions raised $5.8 million in top five deal rounds.
VC funding rounds in Q2’14 saw 25 investors and Siemens was the only investor that participated in more than one deal.
Two plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) smart charging companies together raised $22.6 million, and two smart grid communication technology companies raised $18.6 million. Three demand response companies raised $3.5 million, and two data analytics companies raised $2.54 million, according to the report.
Besides, in two deals grid optimization companies raised a combined $17.8 million and distributed generation and storage companies raised $15.5 million in two deals.
Further, there was a total of $147 million in Q2 14 including 16 smart grid mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions. Power-One’s Power Solution by Bel Fuse, the electronic product manufacturer’s $117 million acquisition was the top disclosed transaction followed by the $23.5 million acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Utility Partnership by Smart Metering Systems.
Moreover, There was the $3.86 million acquisition of BGlobal Metering by Energy Assets and the $2.3 million acquisition of VCI Controls by SustainCo, infrastructure solutions and services providers.
With the convergence of technologies this year, it has extended its smart grid coverage by including battery and storage and energy efficiency sectors, says the report. The battery/storage segment received $90 million in six deals, compared to $180 million in eight deals during Q1’14. There were also five debts and public market financing deals totaling $157 million and nine M&A transactions, but only three transactions disclosed totaling $24 million.
In addition, compared to $156 million in 12 deals in Q1’14 the efficiency companies raised $113 million in 16 deals in Q2’14. There were 10 M&A transactions of which only four had disclosed totaling $409 million.