Mercom Capital Group, llc released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the Smart Grid, Battery/Storage and Energy Efficiency Smart Grid.
Venture capital (VC) funding (including private equity and corporate venture capital) for Smart Grid companies increased slightly to $425 million in 57 deals, compared to $384 million in 74 deals in 2014. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, equaled $527 million, compared to $844 million in 2014. Chart: Smart Grid VC Funding Q4 2014-Q4 2015
The Top VC funded company in 2015 was SIGFOX, bringing in $115 million. Actility brought in $25 million followed by PubNub with $20 million, Smart Wires with $17.3 million and Bit Stew Systems with $17.2 million.
There were 103 VC investors in the Smart Grid category in 2015 compared to 88 in 2014. Top VC investors this year included GE Ventures, Bpi France, E.ON, EnerTech Capital, Idinvest Partners, Khosla Ventures and Maryland Venture Fund.
Smart Grid Communications companies, including Home and Building Automation technology companies, attracted the largest share of VC funding this year with $183 million in 16 deals, followed by Data Analytics companies with $63 million in 11 deals.
There were two debt and public market financing deals announced in 2015, totaling $102 million. The only IPO this year was the $98 million raised by Alarm.com.
There were 20 Smart Grid M&A transactions (10 disclosed) for $5.3 billion. The top disclosed transaction was Honeywell's $5.1 billion acquisition of the Elster Division of Melrose Industries. Other transactions included the acquisition of AlertMe by British Gas (part of the Centrica plc group) for $100 million, Silicon Labs' acquisitions of both Bluegiga Technologies for $61 million and Telegesis for $20 million, and IXYS' acquisition of RadioPulse for $22.5 million. EnerNOC, ABB, Schneider Electric, GE and Seimens have led the M&A activity in the sector since 2010.
Battery/Storage companies brought in $397 million in 37 deals compared to $431 million in 34 deals in 2014. Total corporate funding, including debt and public market financing, came to $676 million, compared to $921 million in 2014.
Flow Battery companies received the most funding with $120 million followed by Energy Storage System companies with $96 million.
The top VC funded companies included VionX Energy which raised $58.1 million, Younicos with $50 million, Stem which brought in $33 million, and Primus Power and UniEnergy Technologies each raising $25 million.
There was a total of 57 VC investors who participated in Battery/Storage deals in 2015. Three investors were involved in multiple deals including AltEnergy, DBL Partners and Pangaea Ventures with two deals each.
