Arcadia Power Rebrands as Arcadia, Raises $30M in Series C Funding

Arcadia, a D.C. startup that connects utility bill payers to cheaper, greener options for their power, announced on Tuesday that it raised $30 million in Series C funding. The round was led by G2VP, with participation from Macquarie Group, Seek Ventures, Mitsui USA, Energy Impact Partners, BoxGroup, and ValueAct Spring Fund.

Arcadia filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday of about $27.7 million in equity financing. CEO Kiran Bhatraju told DC Inno in an email that the company plans to secure the rest of the raise in the coming weeks to bring the total amount to $30 million.

The company, which up until now called itself Arcadia Power, acts as a broker between energy customers and providers, giving consumers alternative options to the default utility in their area. The aim is to help customers save money on their power bills while putting that spending toward energy providers with a lower carbon footprint.

The company claims that customers can reduce their carbon footprint by 50 percent and, if they live in an open utility market, save an average of 20 percent on their energy bills.

"Consumers are demanding a new type of home energy service that is fossil-fuel free, efficient, and easy," Bhatraju said in a statement. "Giving people an option to support clean energy is one of the fastest ways to decarbonize our grid and in order to do that at scale, we have to make sure everyone – in all 50 states – can participate."

Arcadia says that it's the largest residential community solar energy manager in the country and plans to expand the service. Because of the prohibitive cost and restrictions that come with installing solar panels, few people can get power directly from them. Arcadia lets customers pay local solar projects, which it says turns into savings on their home energy bill. The service is currently available in four states: D.C., Maryland, New York and Rhode Island. The company plans to add New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois and Massachusetts in the next year, Bhatraju said.

The company also says it wants to find ways to incentivize customers to reduce their energy usage through the use of smart home devices. Bhatraju said that Arcadia plans to announce "new home energy products and partnerships" in the next year. He added that the company is currently looking to fill positions to that end.

Bhatraju told DC Inno that the company dropped the word "Power" from its name because it doesn't consider itself a power company.

"We don’t own power plants or take positions in the energy market. We are, first and foremost, a mission-driven technology company building a platform that advocates for consumers, not big power companies," he said. "Beyond a shorter name and a refreshed logo, it’s important that we continue to evolve and distinguish ourselves from retail energy suppliers or utilities."

But Bhatraju explained that the company was deliberate in keeping the name "Arcadia" — a word associated with utopian living and harmony with nature.

"We’re embracing a name that is in direct opposition to the energy system that has existed since the beginning — one that can be messy and complex, and is the original sin of climate change," he said.