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WattBuy Secures $10 Million to Drive Clean Energy Innovation
[October 12, 2021]

WattBuy Secures $10 Million to Drive Clean Energy Innovation


WattBuy, a clean energy platform that empowers consumers to choose more sustainable, affordable energy options, today announced it has raised $10 million in additional investment for its Series A round of funding. This raise is led by SE Ventures, a venture capital fund backed by Schneider Electric (News - Alert), along with MCJ Collective. Existing investors also participating in this round include Evergy Ventures, Updater, Powerhouse Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Avesta Fund and Yoav Lurie, bringing WattBuy's total Series A raise to $13.25 million.



Each investor brings a significant track record of supporting early-stage climate tech startups across a wide range of sectors.

"While we were not planning to extend our Series A, the tremendous interest from partners like Schneider Electric and MCJ Collective that play a pivotal role in our future growth plans was impossible to ignore," said Naman Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of WattBuy. "We value the commitment of these industry leaders to help us fundamentally reshape how consumers make energy decisions and support our mission of becoming the 'everything platform' for energy."


The expansion of WattBuy's Series A round follows significant customer growth over the last 12 months.

"We're finding that companies across a growing number of verticals want to present climate-friendly, cost-saving solutions to their customers," said Ben Hood, WattBuy's co-founder and chief technology officer. "We're the embedded solution that enables some of the biggest brands and enterprises in the world to provide that intelligent, seamless experience to their customers."

"WattBuy is enabling enterprises in any industry to launch their own branded energy marketplaces to help consumers access affordable and clean energy options for their homes; which is an incredibly attractive value proposition for businesses with strong brands and a loyal customer base," said Brock Smith, Managing Director at Evergy (News - Alert) Ventures. Partners include market-leading Internet of Things platforms like Samsung SmartThings, personal finance applications like Intuit Mint and real estate platforms like Updater.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with WattBuy at this inflection point and to help position the company's technology as a foundational energy data fabric, helping consumers make smarter and ultimately cleaner energy choices," said Grant Allen, general partner at SE Ventures, a venture capital fund backed by Schneider Electric with $600M under management. "We are always on the hunt for mission-oriented entrepreneurs aligned with Schneider Electric's vision for a sustainable, all-electric future, and we've certainly found that in Naman and Ben."

The funds from this round will enable WattBuy to double its team, expanding in product, data science and business development. Additionally, the company will soon launch a new solar service that provides residents across the country with community and rooftop solar options. Further, WattBuy will continue to build personalized energy products, services and tools for its engaged customers to unlock the potential of distributed energy resources.

"We need the clean energy and climate tech industries to evolve rapidly if we are going to meet the urgency of the climate crisis," said Jason Jacobs, founder at MCJ Collective. "I'm proud to stand behind WattBuy's goal of ensuring that clean, renewable energy is widely available, affordable and accessible to everyone."

WattBuy also announced the hiring of Bobby Tulsiani as the company's first Chief Financial Officer. Tulsiani joins WattBuy after serving as the head of strategy and finance at Opendoor and director of corporate planning and analysis for Netflix. Earlier in his career, Tulsiani held product management roles for Barnes & Noble and AOL (News - Alert).

"Since the company's earliest days, WattBuy has demonstrated not only an ability to offer cleaner electricity choices, but also a path to upend how consumers and businesses interact with energy providers," said Emily Kirsch, Founder and Managing Partner at Powerhouse Ventures. "The overwhelming level of investor interest in this round reflects the strong traction that WattBuy's API and channel partnerships have enabled."

Since its founding in 2017, WattBuy has raised a total of $16 million in venture funding.

About WattBuy

WattBuy empowers consumers to make smarter, cleaner energy choices through its marketplace of electricity solutions. The company's comprehensive set of APIs helps leading personal finance companies, real estate platforms, energy services businesses and more provide their customers with clean energy solutions and personalized energy analytics. For more information about WattBuy, please visit https://wattbuy.com/.

About Schneider Electric

At Schneider, we believe access to energy and digital is a basic human right. We empower all to make the most of their energy and resources, ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every moment. We provide energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability. We combine world-leading energy technologies, real-time automation, software and services into integrated solutions for Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries. We are committed to unleash the infinite possibilities of an open, global, innovative community that is passionate about our Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.se.com


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