Smart Grid cos raised $238 mn in VC funding in Q3 2012

Alarm.com, a global security and home automation company, led the pack by raising $136 million in funding during the quarter

The smart grid sector saw an uptick in the funding activity in the third quarter of calendar year 2013 after three successive dull quarters.

According to a new report by Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy communications and consulting firm, the Q3 of 2012 saw venture capital (VC) investments to the tune of $238 million involving 12 deals globally. This was primarily driven by Alarm.com, a global security and home automation company that raised $136 million in funding during the quarter.

VC funding in the smart grid sector had been relatively weak in the last three quarters. In the Q1 of 2012, 10 companies raised about $62 million combinely. In the second quarter of CY 2011, VC firms invested about $66 million across nine deals.

Apart from Alarm.com deal, the other top deals that happened in the Q3 include $23 million raised by energy management company GridPoint; $15 million raised by Viridity Energy, a management solutions company and $14 million raised by Space-Time Insight, a geospatial information systems company.

“We expect to see more transactions in this niche where security, cable and telecom companies expand their offerings to cover the whole ‘connected or digital’ home services. This would include everything from communication and automation services to solar installations,” said Raj Prabhu, Managing Partner at Mercom Capital Group.