Moonshots capital leads funding round, propels boulder firm into projected $12 billion marketplace
BOULDER, Colo. (November 21, 2019)— Copper Labs, an energy technology company partnering with utilities to deliver revenue-grade energy usage data and real-time customer engagement for enhanced demand management, today announced it has successfully secured $2 million in new financing.
Moonshots Capital led the round. Existing investors, along with new investors Blue Bear Capital, Bull Creek Capital, Capital Factory and Service Provider Capital also participated in the round. As part of the deal, Craig Cummings, co-founder and general partner at Moonshots Capital, and Dr. Carolin Funk at Blue Bear Capital will both join Copper Labs’ board.
“There is a multibillion-dollar imperative for utilities to harness the power of real-time energy usage data and to make faster, more informed decisions that protect our grid, shift energy demand to cleaner sources and save consumers real money,” said Dan Forman, CEO of Copper Labs. “Our strategic partnership with some of the most respected and knowledgeable energy investors will accelerate growth, product development and expand our engineering and sales teams.”
Nearly half of all utilities in the U.S. rely on monthly drive-by meter readings to monitor energy usage, oftentimes resulting in unexpected peaks in demand that are expensive for utilities to serve. As the first company to access real-time energy usage data through wireless technology from both drive-by and smart meters, Copper Labs seamlessly collects and monitors data from electric, gas and water meters. This approach produces actionable insights and generates consumer-friendly alerts that can reduce energy consumption when it matters most to the grid.
“With the home energy management market projected to reach $12 billion by 2028, our investment in Copper Labs is a clear indication that we expect this company to continue to innovate and disrupt the market,” said Cummings of Moonshots Capital. “Copper’s frictionless deployment and unique access to meter data make it easier than ever for utilities to interact with their consumers.”
“Copper Labs is helping utilities build and manage a more intelligent energy grid with real-time, wireless energy data in an extremely cost-effective way,” said Carolin Funk of Blue Bear Capital. “We are proud to support their experienced leadership team during this next growth phase.”
Copper Labs was founded in 2016 around a simple, galvanizing belief: managing energy usage more sustainably and cost effectively requires the most up-to-date measurements and insights. Bolstered by CTO and founder Jeff Mathews’ 15 patents and two successful exits in the smart home and energy management markets (Nest/Google and EnerNOC), Copper Labs has expanded its leadership team to include deep expertise in enterprise software and energy technologies. The company began commercial sales earlier this year.
About Copper Labs
Founded in Boulder in 2016, Copper Labs provides utilities with actionable, real-time energy measurements and insights that can be immediately shared with consumers to achieve cost and energy savings. Copper, the company’s flagship wireless energy monitor, collects revenue-grade data from electric, gas and water meters to generate insights with practical value and consumer-friendly alerts during peak periods. For more information, visit www.copperlabs.com.
About Moonshots Capital
Moonshots Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in extraordinary leadership. Great leaders are hard to come by. We believe the best ones are military-trained or trial-by-fire entrepreneurs who have the ability to motivate others to action, inspire trust and plan heuristically. We invest with conviction when those attributes are present. Moonshots Capital, with offices in Austin and Los Angeles, was founded by a team of veterans in 2017. We have collectively founded and operated 14 companies, and have personally invested in over 80 ventures. Beyond capital, we deploy our military and entrepreneurial experience and network to help world-changing companies grow. Work with us. Go to www.moonshotscapital.com.
About Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear is a venture capital and growth equity firm driving digital technologies into multibillion-dollar verticals across the energy industry. The team comes together from leading energy private equity firms and features technology expertise from the tech startup world alongside operational leadership from the NASA astronaut corps. Blue Bear’s portfolio covers AI, IoT, and cybersecurity technologies, all deployed with leading enterprise customers as they improve the economics of wind, solar and storage while driving efficiencies across the energy industry. For additional information, visit www.bluebearcap.com and @BlueBearCap.