Coatue and Breakthrough Energy Ventures join existing investors to drive software innovation at intersection of utility and automotive sectors

May 20, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO - WeaveGrid, a developer of software solutions for the scalable deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) on the electric grid, today announced $15M in Series A fundraising to enable its next stage of growth. The round was led by Coatue with participation by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and existing investors The Westly Group, Grok Ventures, and several prominent angel investors including Ramez Naam and Josh Felser.

Automaker and government commitments are driving a radical transformation that will soon see millions of new EVs charging across the United States. Electric utilities are in a leading position to benefit from accelerating EV adoption, but face risks as EV charging puts a tremendous new load on the grid. While automakers are increasingly bringing vehicles online, they do not have the infrastructure to interface with electric utilities.

"WeaveGrid’s enterprise software solutions serve as the interface between these two evolving industries, enabling both to benefit from the EV transition and - most critically - to offer a seamless and delightful experience for drivers abandoning gas stations as a relic of the past,” said Divesh Gupta, Director of Strategy for Baltimore Gas & Electric, an early WeaveGrid customer.

Founded by experienced Stanford entrepreneurs, WeaveGrid has excelled by hiring top tier talent from utilities, tech companies, and auto OEMs, with a shared passion for solving the climate challenge via software and data science. WeaveGrid’s charging solutions are now deployed by some of the biggest utilities in the U.S. to lower grid infrastructure costs, integrate more renewables, and save drivers money.

“We are at an inflection point in the public discourse about decarbonization, infrastructure investment, grid reliability, and the transformative nature of EVs,” said WeaveGrid CEO Apoorv Bhargava. “We choose to operate at the intersection of these major, confounding challenges, and are thrilled to work with investors who have validated our vision for software- and analytics-driven solutions to these big, hairy problems.”

Coatue, an investor in EV companies like Tesla and Rivian, sees WeaveGrid’s potential to accelerate EV adoption. “We are excited to partner with WeaveGrid and support Apoorv, John, and their team. WeaveGrid is bridging the tech, mobility, and energy worlds through a software platform that transforms EVs into energy assets. WeaveGrid’s approach could revolutionize the role of EVs in the home,” said Coatue’s Jaimin Rangwalla, who has joined WeaveGrid’s Board of Directors.

“As more drivers find themselves behind the wheels of electric vehicles, it’s going to be critical that utilities are prepared for the increased demand on the grid,” said Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “By optimizing EV charging, WeaveGrid’s innovative software solution will enable utilities to more efficiently meet demand, reducing the need for additional power generation. It’s a great example of using a smart software technology to solve a capital-intensive infrastructure problem and is exactly the type of innovation we will need to unlock the full potential of EVs and reduce global emissions.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to support WeaveGrid’s mission to accelerate decarbonization of the global transportation industry,” said Danny Cotter, Partner at The Westly Group. “Every automotive manufacturer is moving all-electric. Energy utilities need a way to support this transition without significant impact to their infrastructure, and WeaveGrid’s platform meets that need. We have looked at almost every early-stage company in this sector and WeaveGrid is unique in its software-first solution.”

Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder and co-CEO of software giant Atlassian, invested in WeaveGrid via his VC fund Grok Ventures, noting that “WeaveGrid’s software-based EV charging solution helps utilities ensure that consumers can continue to purchase and charge EVs pain free and at low cost. The team has combined their deep understanding of energy markets, utilities and data science to bring us a big step closer to decarbonising the grid and transportation.”

About WeaveGrid

WeaveGrid, a 2021 Global Cleantech 100 company, offers vehicle-grid integration (VGI) smart charging solutions that enable utilities to both provide valuable services to their electric vehicle (EV) customers and support the resiliency of the broader grid.

About Coatue

Coatue is one of the largest technology investment platforms in the world with more than $35 billion in assets under management. Our dedicated team of engineers and data scientists work closely with investment professionals to add value to founders and executive teams in our portfolio. With venture, growth and public funds, we back entrepreneurs from around the globe and at every stage of growth. Some of our private investments have included Airtable, Ant Financial, Anaplan, ByteDance, Chime, Databricks, DoorDash, Instacart, Meituan, Snap, Snowflake and Spotify.

About Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) invests in cutting-edge companies that will lead the world to net-zero emissions. BEV has more than $2 billion in committed capital to support bold entrepreneurs building companies that can significantly reduce emissions from agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. BEV’s strategy links government-funded research and patient, risk-tolerant capital to bring transformative clean energy innovations to market as quickly as possible. The first fund was created in 2016 as part of the Breakthrough Energy network of initiatives and entities, which include investment funds, non-profit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts linked by a shared commitment to scale the technologies needed to address climate change and achieve a path to net zero emissions by 2050. Visit https://www.breakthroughenergy.org/ to learn more.

About The Westly Group

The Westly Group invests in smart energy and mobility and has 15 of the world’s larger energy and auto companies as investors. The firm has over $500M AUM and has had 6 companies go public including Tesla Motors and Luminar.

About Grok Ventures

Grok Ventures is the private investment office of Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes. Grok is based in Sydney, Australia, and backs world class teams solving big problems to shape a better future. It provides long-term focused, patient capital to fast growing technology enabled businesses.

Contact:

Yakov Berenshteyn

communications@weavegrid.com