Venture capitalist funding in smart grid cos slips to $81 mn in Q2

NEW DELHI: Global venture capital funding into smart grid companies came in at $81 million through 13 deals in April-June quarter of this year, logging a decline of 19.80 per cent over the previous quarter, a report said.

According to global clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom, smart grid companies raised $101 million by way of 21 deals in the first quarter of this year.

The Indian government is expected to launch a national smart grid mission and monitor the implementation of policies and programs envisioned in the smart grid road map for the power sector.

The top VC deals include ChargePoint, a provider of an open electric vehicle (EV) charging network, that raised $22.6 million, followed by Sunverge Energy that mopped up $15 million and On-Ramp Wireless ($13.6 million).

As many as 25 investors participated in VC funding rounds in Q2 of 2014, the report said.

The sector saw as many as 16 smart grid M&A transactions, out of which four were disclosed in the April-June quarter of this year totaling $147 million.

The top disclosed transactions was the $117 million acquisition of Power-One's Power Solutions business by Bel Fuse, followed by the $23.5 million acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Utility Partnership by Smart Metering Systems PLC, and the $3.86 million acquisition of BGlobal Metering, by Energy Assets Group.

Meanwhile, companies in the battery/storage space received $90 million in six deals, compared to $180 million in eight deals in Q1.

There were nine M&A transactions in battery/storage, of which only three transactions were disclosed totaling $24 million, the report said.