Brisbane-based energy tech startup Redback Technologies has completed a capital raising round that’s brought in $US7 million ($9 million) from Right Click Capital and the Clean Energy Innovation Fund.
The latest cash injection follows a $9.3 million investment from EnergyAustralia almost exactly a year ago, and last month’s launch of Redback’s Smart Hybrid System for home use.
Redback’s products use machine learning to predict solar power generation and customer usage, then makes decisions to reduce energy usage. The company has offered its Generation 2 Smart Hybrid System to 1.7 million customers around Australia since the EnergyAustralia deal.
This time the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which is funded by federal agency Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), will contribute $US5 million, while Right Click Capital is tipping in $US2 million.
CEFC chief Ian Learmonth said Australia has the highest penetration of rooftop solar panels in the world, and local firms like Redback were set to take advantage.
“We can lead the way in developing innovative technologies like Redback’s that mean households and businesses get the most benefit from these investments,” he said.
“We want to see home and business energy management systems and battery storage solutions become commonplace in Australia, offered as part of an integrated power solution that gives consumers more control over their energy.”
Redback founder and managing director Philip Livingston said the new funds would be used to accelerate development of its machine learning software and hire 30 more research and development staff in the next 6 months.
“This investment will enable us to further develop our next-generation energy intelligence platform and devices and further cement our vision to ensure Australian households and businesses are entirely powered by renewables,” he said.
Redback Technologies, based in the Brisbane neighbourhood of Indooroopilly, was established in April 2015 and originally made its name with its Solar Inverter System.
Right Click Capital partner Benjamin Chong said “inefficiencies” in the Australian energy sector made it “ripe for disruption”.
“Redback Technologies is uniquely positioned to seize this opportunity, with the power to provide everyday Australians with an alternative, low-cost solution to energy generation, storage and consumption,” he said.
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