National Grid Unveils New Venture Capital & Innovation Group and Launches with Five New Deals
Nov 08, 2018Company launches the utility industry’s first Silicon Valley-based innovation, incubation, investment, and business development unit
LOS GATOS, CA – November 8, 2018 – National Grid Partners (NGP), the venture investment and innovation arm of National Grid plc (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG), today opens its doors with five technology investments. National Grid Partners has already funded AutoGrid, ClimaCell, Leap, Omnidian and Sitetracker who will team up with us to deliver more advanced, efficient, and reliable energy and IT solutions.
National Grid Partners invests in the potential of energy with a provocative vision to define a smarter and more renewable energy future. With increased consumer expectations, NGP is well-positioned to source, fund and build companies addressing innovations in energy and information technology. From artificial intelligence, to smart assets, to enterprise SaaS, and distributed energy marketplaces, NGP’s launch companies reflect the group’s investment focus, ensuring that consumers enjoy a more seamless, reliable, efficient and cleaner energy experience. NGP intends to meet and exceed customer expectations, providing a multi-functional approach that disrupts the status quo, furthering innovation within the industry.
NGP’s launch partners include:
- AutoGrid, which leverages big data to analyze energy data and create real-time actionable information, aims to help with predictive maintenance and commercial industrial demand response in the US.
- ClimaCell, a next-generation weather forecasting company, aims to provide by-the-minute demand response for the smart grid for business optimization as well as asset-specific outage forecasts for storm response.
- Leap, a marketplace for distributed energy resources that enables a more effective monetization of grid services, enabling automated trading on energy markets.
- Omnidian, a provider of comprehensive protection plans for investments in residential and commercial solar energy systems, aims to optimize and control Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), data analytics and predictive capability as well as provide insight into the photovoltaic (PV) market.
- Sitetracker, a SaaS platform that enables growth-focused innovators in critical infrastructure industries, such as utilities and telecom, to optimize their entire asset lifecycle.
“National Grid continuously strives to exceed the expectations of its customers. We at AutoGrid share this vision and we hope our state-of-the-art suite of energy internet applications allow National Grid and other energy and utility industry leaders to deliver clean, affordable, and reliable energy services in a distributed energy world,” says Amit Narayan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AutoGrid Systems, Inc.
“We share many of the same core values as National Grid, especially, when it comes ensuring grid reliability and resilience," said Giuseppe Incitti, CEO of Sitetracker. "Our project and asset management software minimizes operational risks and is essential for circuit-savvy utility franchises that have no tolerance for disruptions."
Announced earlier this year, Lisa Lambert, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer of National Grid plc, and Senior Vice President of NGP, will be leading this operation. Formerly of Intel Capital and The Westly Group, Lisa brings her extensive technology, investing, and energy experience to the position, ushering in a new phase for National Grid.
“Whether it’s investing in new technologies or getting smarter about how we work every day, we need to think more than one step ahead. That’s the role of NGP. We are the eyes and ears of the business, searching for the new ideas and breakthrough innovations that will keep us at the forefront of the energy industry.” says Lisa Lambert, CTIO & SVP, National Grid Partners.
Joining Lisa’s leadership team are Kareem Fahmy, Dillon McDonald, Brian Ryan and Pradeep Tagare—all veterans in the technology sector. Lisa and the team will oversee innovation, incubation, corporate venture capital, business development, and the venture fellowship program.
National Grid Partners is based in Silicon Valley with additional team members based in the northeast US and UK. Our investment focus has a global reach, ensuring National Grid plc is on the pulse of and collaborating with the most cutting-edge technology companies in energy and IT.
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About National Grid plc
National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is one of the world's largest utilities, focused on delivering energy safely, efficiently, reliably and responsibly. National Grid is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. We play a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to many millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern U.S. in an efficient, reliable and safe manner.
About National Grid Partners
National Grid Partners is the venture investment and innovation group of National Grid plc. NGP makes and manages strategically and financially attractive investments and leads company-wide innovation efforts. The organization will focus on innovation, incubation, corporate venture capital and business development providing a multi-functional approach to change the status quo. NGP is based in Silicon Valley with offices and team members in Los Gatos, San Francisco, Boston, London, and New York.
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