Sense Closes $105 million Series C with Blue Earth Capital as Lead Investor

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Apr 27, 2022, 08:00 ET

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sense, the leader in real-time home energy intelligence, announced the close of a $105 million Series C financing led by Blue Earth Capital. TELUS Ventures and MCJ Collective also joined the round, along with previous investors including Schneider Electric, Energy Impact Partners, Prelude Ventures, and iRobot. This brings Sense's funding to date to nearly $157 million USD.

Led by pioneers in machine learning who commercialized voice recognition technology in hundreds of millions of mobile phones, Sense's mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by making homes smart and more efficient. Sense uses machine learning and AI to provide real-time, engaging consumer applications that give people insights into how energy is used in their homes and will increasingly be used for automation as appliances in the home become connected.

Said Sense CEO Mike Phillips, "We founded Sense with the mission to impact climate change, starting with the award-winning Sense Home Energy Monitor for consumers, but we've always known that the fastest path to mass market adoption is to get our core technology built into the infrastructure of homes. This funding allows us to work with our key strategic partners to bring Sense intelligence into millions of homes. By making the core systems of homes intelligent, and by engaging consumers, Sense will play a key role in the energy transition and accelerate the drive to greater efficiencies and electrification in homes."

Sense intelligence can run as a software application on Revelo® next generation smart meters from Landis+Gyr or smart electric panels from Schneider Electric, allowing Sense capabilities to be deployed at scale. As home builders and contractors install new electrical panels, and as utilities deploy the next generation of smart meters, this new infrastructure should be smart and future-proofed to adapt to the changes that the transition to electrification and renewables will require over their lifespan. By embedding intelligence as updatable software, these core components of our energy infrastructure can adapt over time and connect to the evolving set of smart devices that consumers are adopting.

Kayode Akinola, Global Head of Private Equity Direct Investments at Blue Earth Capital, said: "As the market leader in home energy consumption data and analytics, we believe Sense is well positioned to drive significant energy efficiency, increase flexible energy demand, improve grid edge visibility, and reduce carbon emissions. We look forward to supporting Mike and the Sense team to scale their operations."

"We have seen Smart Home technology move from a convenience to a practical tool as homeowners prioritize sustainability and resilience in their homes and seek out actionable information around their energy use," said Michael Mahan, Senior Vice President, Home & Distribution North America, Schneider Electric. "Working with Sense to integrate energy intelligence into our Square D Energy Center platform allows us to provide homeowners with grid-to-plug insight into their home energy and control of that energy – whether from the grid, solar, battery or other sources – conveniently from their smartphone."

The funding allows Sense to accelerate on its path to broad consumer adoption with a partnership ecosystem that includes utilities, home construction, and smart home innovators. Sense will also expand its global footprint, starting in Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

To address climate change and extreme weather, more homes are installing solar, batteries and generators as secondary power sources. The Square D Energy Center from Schneider Electric with Sense intelligence is designed to meet these changing needs of today's homeowners by consolidating and controlling multiple power sources, building resilience into the home, giving homeowners greater control of their energy to increase their efficiency and sustainability while reducing their energy costs.

The rapid adoption of next generation smart meters will build intelligence into millions of homes. According to Guidehouse, the global penetration of smart meters will climb from approximately 44% at the end of 2020 to 56% by the end of 2028, resulting in over 1.2 billion devices globally. Investments in inside-the-meter analytics will grow at a CAGR of 13.3%, and solutions for demand-side management and energy efficiency will grow from approximately $1.6 billion in 2021 to nearly $5.4 billion in 2030.

About Blue Earth Capital
Blue Earth Capital AG is a global impact investment firm headquartered in Switzerland, with operations in London, New York and Singapore. Blue Earth Capital seeks to invest in businesses that address pressing environmental and social challenges, whilst generating market-rate financial returns. Initiated in 2015 by Urs Wietlisbach, one of the founders of Partners Group, and backed by the Ursimone Wietlisbach Foundation, Blue Earth Capital has been incubated by and built up with the support of Partners Group, leveraging its experience as a leading global private markets firm.

For further information please visit www.blueearth.capital

About Schneider Electric
Schneider's purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.
www.se.com

About Sense
Sense's mission is to reduce global carbon emissions by making homes smarter and efficient. We empower people to care for their homes and families while contributing to a cleaner, more resilient future. Founded in 2013 by pioneers in speech recognition, Sense uses machine learning technology to provide real-time insights on device behavior, even for those devices that are not "smart." Customers rely on Sense for a wide range of uses including monitoring their home appliances, determining whether they left appliances running and identifying how to reduce their energy costs. Sense has received investments from two of the world's largest energy technology companies, Schneider Electric and Landis + Gyr. Sense is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. To make sense of your energy, visit: https://sense.com.

SOURCE Sense