LineVision, Inc., the world’s leading provider of overhead line monitoring for electric utilities, today announced the closing of its $33 million Series C financing round. The proceeds from this round will be used to accelerate global growth of its Grid Enhancing Technology (GETs) platform, used by leading utilities around the world to increase the capacity, flexibility, and safety of their transmission grids and accelerate the transition to net zero.
The round is led by Climate Innovation Capital, a fund that invests in climate technologies and businesses that are poised to deliver the greatest amount of carbon reductions in the shortest period of time, and co-led by S2G Ventures, a $300 million multi-stage clean energy fund that invests to accelerate the transition to the clean energy, low carbon economy needed to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.
Other new investors include Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, a $1 billion investment initiative to accelerate technology development and deployment of new climate innovations, and Marubeni, a leading global investor, developer, and operator of infrastructures across energy, utilities, telecommunication, and transportation. Existing investors including UP Partners, National Grid Partners, Clean Energy Ventures and Zoma Capital also participated in the round.
“Decarbonization of the economy can only happen if the capacity of the grid is expanded,” said Kevin Kimsa, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Climate Innovation Capital. “We see tremendous opportunity for LineVision’s technology-driven infrastructure platform to unlock this critically-needed capacity and deliver value to consumers, utilities, renewable energy developers, electrification innovators and the climate.”
“Access to adequate transmission capacity is the single biggest barrier the US and many other major electricity markets face in realizing their near to medium-term decarbonization goals,” said Francis O’Sullivan Ph.D., Managing Director of S2G Ventures. “LineVision and their leading utility partners are unlocking the enormous unrealized potential in existing transmission infrastructure and in doing so they are creating a more advanced power grid and unlocking more of the economic and environmental benefits that clean energy can deliver.”
“The science is clear; the world must take urgent action to reach net zero emissions to curb the worst effects of climate change,” said Brandon Middaugh, Director of the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. “LineVision’s technology is empowering utilities to identify additional capacity on existing power lines to more rapidly integrate renewables and ultimately help decarbonize the grid.”
“We are thrilled to work with Climate Innovation Capital, S2G Ventures, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, Marubeni, and our existing investors as we scale to deliver on our mission of accelerating the net zero grid,” said Hudson Gilmer, LineVision’s CEO. “As utilities continue to work to meet climate goals, demand for our technology has increased exponentially. This investment round will directly support our expansion to meet that demand.”
This investment round strengthens LineVision’s capacity to help utilities around the world transition their grids into the dynamic and efficient foundation of tomorrow’s energy system.
In just over four years since its founding, LineVision has deployed projects with National Grid, Dominion Energy, Duquesne Light Company, Xcel Energy, Tennessee Valley Authority, NYPA, SMUD, multiple Exelon companies, and several other North American utilities. The company also works with utilities across eight European countries, Marubeni, and other EPCOs in Japan, and Oceania.
LineVision provides electric utilities with the real-time monitoring and analytics needed to accelerate the net zero grid. LineVision’s patented non-contact sensors collect critical information to unlock additional capacity on existing lines, provide insight into conductor health, and detect anomalies and risks. LineVision’s platform is rapidly deployed at scale without the need for scheduled outages, live line work, or specialized installation equipment. LineVision is helping our utility partners around the world lead the energy transition by increasing the capacity, resilience, and safety of the grid. For more information, visit www.LineVisionInc.com, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Climate Innovation Capital (ClimateIC) is a growth equity fund investing in technology and service businesses focused on climate change. Our purpose is to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns and decarbonize the economy. We identify and grow climate innovations with the highest projected financial returns and the greatest decarbonization potential – delivered in the shortest period of time. We leverage our strong network and our extensive experience as operators, climate advisors and investment professionals to source attractive opportunities and enhance the growth prospects of our investments. For more information, www.climateic.com.
S2G Ventures, the direct investment team of Builders Vision, partners with entrepreneurs who are working on solutions to some of the world’s greatest challenges across the food, agriculture, oceans, and clean energy markets. We provide capital, mentorship, and value-added resources to companies pursuing innovative market-based solutions that generate positive social, environmental, and financial returns. We provide our partners with flexible capital solutions that can range from seed and venture funding through growth equity to debt and infrastructure financing. For more information about S2G, visit s2gventures.com, tune-in to our podcast, or connect with us on LinkedIn.
