Fat Spaniel Technologies, an energy management software startup, on Tuesday said it received a $3.5-million investment from DFJ Element, Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s cleantech fund.
The investment reflects growing interest in energy management, said Robert Torres, a strategic analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
“This is another indication of the growing interest in, and importance of, measurement of electricity usage by the consumer,” he said. “All of these technologies are making it easier and easier to do something that wasn’t viable before.
“More and more energy consumers are seeing some real value in systems that monitor their electricity usage in order to improve efficiencies,” he said.
The investment will be used to expand the company’s engineering capabilities and to support its growth into additional markets, Fat Spaniel said.
“The investment will help Fat Spaniel Technologies significantly grow its capabilities and market reach,” said Chris Beekhuis, Fat Spaniel president and chief technology officer. “In addition, DFJ Element will bring tremendous business and cleantech experience—as well as a global presence—to help us execute on out strategic business objectives.”
Tim Newell, a managing director of DFJ Element, said the company has emerged as an early leader in providing the IT infrastructure, software, and data services needed to support distributed power systems.
“The demand for renewable power and other forms of distributed power generation is growing explosively on a global basis—with no end in sight,” he said.
Distributed power systems include both renewable and fossil fuel systems that create power where it is needed, such as solar, wind, fuel cells, microturbines, combined heat and power systems, and diesel generators.
Net-enabledFat Spaniel Technologies provides software and web site integration services to remotely monitor and manage these distributed energy systems. The company says its software transforms energy data into easy-to-understand presentations and makes them accessible from any Internet-enabled device.
The technology is being used by Wal-Mart’s experimental supercenter, giving Wal-Mart customers a view of the center’s solar, electric, wind turbine, and air stratification systems. Fat Spaniel software is being used at the Stanford University Synergy House, and was chosen by BEF to monitor 24 solar projects.
In August, Fat Spaniel bought VAEIS, a company that makes web-based tools for monitoring power consumption and renewable energy production.
Peter Corsell, CEO of GridPoint, a company that has a system to monitor power usage at the circuit box to tell customers how much energy different appliances are using, says Fat Spaniel has a “nifty web interface.”
“It just tells you what the solar panels are doing, and presents that in a very attractive web portal,” he said.