GridPoint Raises $48.5 Million in Series D and Appoints Energy & Financial Industry Leaders to Board
Goldman Sachs and SIG Lead Financing; New Board Members include Duke Energy CTO and USPowerGen CEO
WASHINGTON − Oct. 17, 2007 − GridPoint, Inc., a leading clean tech company whose smart grid platform benefits electric utilities, consumers and the environment, announced that it has recently closed a $48.5 million Series D financing led by Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), as well as the appointment of new members to its board of directors, including the CTO of Duke Energy and the CEO of US Power Generating Company.
Other new GridPoint shareholders include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Perella Weinberg Partners, and Robeco, a subsidiary of Rabobank Group. Since the company’s inception in November 2003, GridPoint has raised $88 million in equity capital.
“This significant financing demonstrates investor confidence in building an intelligent electric grid that integrates distributed clean technologies,” said Peter L. Corsell, President and CEO of GridPoint. “Just as the Internet forever changed communication and commerce, the Smart Grid will revolutionize the delivery and consumption of electric power.”
Joining GridPoint’s board of directors are David W. Mohler, Chief Technology Officer of Duke Energy, a Fortune 500 investor-owned utility; Jacob J. Worenklein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of US Power Generating Company, which owns and operates a major portion of the power capacity in New York City and Boston; George P. Stamas, Venture Partner at NEA and the former Vice Chairman of Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown; and Eric C. Taubenheim, who leads private investment opportunities in the industrial and clean technology sectors at SIG.
In addition to the appointment of new directors, GridPoint has named J. Roderick Heller, III as its Chairman. Heller is Chairman and CEO of Carnton Capital Associates and was formerly Chairman and CEO of NHP, Inc. The company’s board also includes Corsell; Larry M. Kellerman, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and President of Cogentrix Energy; Joseph M. Perta, a private investor; and Paul J. Powers, former Chairman and CEO of Commercial Intertech Corp.
GridPoint is the pioneer of an innovative smart grid platform that aligns the interests of electric utilities, consumers and the environment. The platform applies information technology to the electric grid to provide utilities with an intelligent network of distributed resources (e.g., advanced load control devices, batteries, solar systems) that reside at the point of consumption – the home or business. Additionally, the platform’s modular, scaleable and upgradeable architecture enables utilities to create a practical path for integrating new clean technologies (e.g., plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cells).
During peak demand periods, the platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by discharging stored power or reducing loads with minimal impact on customers (i.e., controlling temperature versus shutting down air conditioners). Utilities can also optimize existing baseload generation assets and relieve stress on transmission and distribution (T&D) lines.
The platform serves as a virtual peaking power plant, enabling utilities to avoid the regulatory, environmental and “time-to-build” hurdles associated with building centralized plants while fueling the mass adoption of renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions and conserving fuel, capital and land resources.
For consumers, GridPoint’s platform provides protection from power outages, increases energy efficiency through online energy management and integrates utility-controlled renewable energy systems, paving the way for the commercial success of residential and light commercial solar and wind energy sources.
Last month, GridPoint was selected as the overall winner by AlwaysOn GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies for 2007. Companies were peer-nominated, with AlwaysOn receiving more than 500 nominations from venture investors, investment bankers and other industry experts. Additionally, GridPoint received the 2007 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Green Excellence in recognition of its success in pioneering a way to harness load management and distributed generation to achieve environmental sustainability.
About Goldman Sachs Group
Goldman Sachs Group is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm which provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base, which includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world. For information, visit www.gs.com.
About Susquehanna International Group
The Susquehanna International Group of Companies (SIG) is one of the largest privately held global financial firms servicing major securities markets and institutional clients worldwide. An innovator with options and derivatives, SIG leverages its quantitative applications to maintain its renowned liquidity provision and execution capabilities in a broad range of equity, fixed income, and commodity products. SIG includes affiliated entities specializing in investment banking, research, institutional sales and trading, private equity and venture capital. Headquartered in the Philadelphia area, SIG employs more than 1,400 individuals located in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. For further information about SIG’s services, products, and recruitment opportunities, please visit www.sig.com.
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles: supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed-stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 550 companies, of which more than 160 have gone public and more than 230 have been acquired. For information, visit www.nea.com.
About Perella Weinberg Partners
Launched in June 2006, Perella Weinberg Partners is an independent, privately-owned financial services firm that provides corporate advisory and asset management services to clients around the world. Today, in its London and New York offices, the firm comprises 23 partners and over 95 employees recruited from a wide variety of leading financial institutions. Perella Weinberg Partners raised $1.1 billion from a global group of investors to establish the operations of the firm and to fund its asset management initiatives. For information, visit www.pwpartners.com.
About Robeco
Robeco, established in Rotterdam in 1929, offers investment products and services to institutional and private investors worldwide. It has EUR 142 billion in assets under management (at 31 December 2006). The product range encompasses equity and fixed-income investments, money-market and real-estate funds and alternative investments, such as private equity, hedge funds and structured products. The various strategies are managed from Rotterdam (head office), Paris, Boston and New York. Robeco is part of Rabobank Group, one of the few retail banks with the highest credit ratings from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. For information, visit www.robeco.com.
About GridPoint
GridPoint, Inc., a leading clean tech company, is the pioneer of an innovative smart grid platform to benefit electric utilities, consumers and the environment. GridPoint SmartGrid Platform™ offers an intelligent network that integrates energy storage technologies, load measurement and control devices, and renewable energy sources at the edge of the grid, under utility control. The platform enables utilities to efficiently balance supply and demand by deploying stored power during peak periods, reducing customers’ non-essential loads, optimizing existing base-load generation assets and relieving stress on transmission and distribution (T&D) lines. For consumers, GridPoint’s platform provides protection from power outages, increases energy efficiency and integrates renewable energy, paving the way for the commercial success of solar and wind energy sources.
On the Net: www.gridpoint.com
Contact:
Suzanne Lauer
703.862.3137
slauer@gridpoint.com
Media Contact
Suzanne Lauer
(703) 862-3137 or
slauer@gridpoint.com
