Gridware, a continuous power grid monitoring solution provider, announced its Series A funding of $26.4 million led by Sequoia Capital. The funds will empower Gridware to further scale production of Gridscope™ devices and the Gridware monitoring and analytics service, which provides continuous power grid monitoring 24 hours per day to help utilities prepare for and respond to a growing number of risks.
Transforming Grid Protection and Monitoring
Gridware technologies enable a comprehensive service for power utilities to measure, understand, and take decisive action to protect the grid. By leveraging a network of advanced Gridscope sensors and on-device analysis, Gridware continuously monitors key grid assets, providing real-time insights into grid health. The platform ensures uninterrupted monitoring even when power lines are de-energized, thanks to its independent power supply.
With multiple communication methods, including cellular, satellite, and device-to-device networking, Gridware ensures that grid operators receive timely alerts about hazards and faults, no matter when or where they occur. This integrated approach empowers utilities to take proactive action, improve safety, and enhance grid reliability.
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The continuous measurements taken of environmental stressors, such as anomalous vibrations caused by tree branches falling on powerlines, feed the Gridscope’s on-device analytics suite and provide game-changing detail for utilities to better manage power delivery assets. Before Gridware, electric utility operators had very little visibility into where to begin looking for faults.
Since implementing Gridscope, some Gridware customers have reduced outage durations by more than 70 percent through a more efficient search process where the technology has helped to quickly identify and address issues. Gridscope units also enable improved asset management, allowing for planned predictive maintenance that can further reduce downtime and outages.
“With Gridscope units placed on power poles, utilities can now identify and address hazards within minutes instead of hours or days, before they result in lengthy outages or life-threatening disasters,” said Tim Barat, Co-Founder and CEO of Gridware. “On one of the hottest days of the year, our technology detected a tree that had fallen onto power lines. Thanks to a notification from a nearby Gridscope, the utility customer quickly addressed the danger, ultimately averting what could have been a catastrophic wildfire. This incident served as a powerful reminder of the vital role Gridware plays in protecting both communities and the environment.”
Barat knows the potentially devastating effects of unmonitored power lines. He previously worked as a lineman in Australia, including during what became known as the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. That experience led him on the path to create Gridware with fellow University of California-Berkeley graduate students Abdulrahman Bin Omar and Hall Chen.
Following a successful initial pilot with California-based PG&E last year, the pioneering utility has since expanded to a large-scale deployment covering more than 1,000 miles of power lines and 10,000 poles. Today, Gridware is trusted by utilities across North America, which serves millions of customers across ten U.S. states and counting.
SOURCE: Businesswire