An Austin startup that helps renewable energy buyers track hourly energy and carbon use data has raised $20 million.
Cleartrace Technologies Inc.'s new funding was led by Florida-based energy sector venture capital firm ClearSky. It also included strategic energy investors including Brookfield Renewable, EDF Energy North America, Tenaska and Exelon. The company, formerly known as swytchX, has added board seats for ClearSky, Brookfield Renewable, EDF Energy North America and Tenaska as part of the funding round.
The new funding came a couple years after it raised a $4 million series A.
“Despite the rise in decarbonization goals as part of Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) commitments, energy data today is largely siloed, not validated and non-standardized,” stated Lincoln Payton, CEO of Cleartrace. “Renewable energy buyers and suppliers need to understand the carbon intensity of the electricity they consume or produce — on an hourly basis — in order to advance their decarbonization strategies.”
Cleartrace counts JPMorgan Chase, Brookfield Properties and Iron Mountain as customers.
For example, it provides auditable proof of decarbonization for all of Iron Mountain's U.S. data centers. And, in March, the Cleartrace announced Brookfield Properties would use its software as part of a five-year agreement with Brookfield Renewable to supply renewable energy to One Manhattan West, a 67-story, 2.1-million-square-foot office tower in New York.
“Leveraging Cleartrace’s hourly energy and carbon data positions our business ahead of the market to offer maximum decarbonization for our clients,” stated Stephen Gallagher, chief commercial officer of Brookfield Renewable’s U.S. business. “Demand by companies for 24/7 clean energy has never been higher, and this technology helps make that possible.”
