eSmart Systems today announced a successful capital raise of 18 MUSD. Equinor Energy Ventures leads the round joined by Nysnø Climate Investments (Norwegian sovereign wealth fund) and existing eSmart shareholders, including Kongsberg Digital.
We are thrilled to have these companies onboard as new shareholders and growth partners to fulfill our common ambition to propel eSmart Systems onwards and upwards to the number one global enterprise in our market. This successful funding process gives us an excellent platform to fully unlock this potential
eSmart Systems is a pioneer in developing AI-products based on machine learning technology that automatically identifies and extracts relevant information from image and IoT-device sources. This includes, for example, power grid infrastructure inspections with automatic detection of grid anomalies and peak load predictions based on smart meter data.
We regard this to be a strong investment case for the Equinor Energy Ventures fund, backed by a management team with proven track record. eSmart is also a knowledgeable partner for the wider Equinor when it comes to data analytics and machine learning with obvious synergies on data platform architecture and energy infrastructure inspection
Positioned for international expansion
The funding provides substantial strength to accelerate development of eSmart’s AI-technologies and their application to the energy industry. A potential second closing will be considered.
We are very excited about supporting a world leading Norwegian cleantech company in its international expansion. The combination of strong competencies within AI and data analytics, and their experience within the energy field positions eSmart’s products to address some of the key challenges related to future global energy systems
Strong partnerships are the future of business. Bigger muscles, broader knowledge and the right combination of partners will enable eSmart Systems to realize the vast potential of their solutions, and we look forward to seeing what we can create together
For the last 4 years, eSmart has worked intensively to develop applied AI for the energy industry based on its industrial-grade, scalable cloud AI-architecture.
Over the last year, we’ve had outstanding market response to our two main product areas – power grid analytics focused on automatic component and defect detection using deep learning, as well as our energy flexibility software that increases the utilization of distributed energy resources though AI-powered analytics
ABOUT
ESMART SYSTEMS. eSmart Systems provides AI driven software solutions to the energy industry and service providers. Their cloud born platform is designed to handle and exploit IoT, Big Data and Analytics in real time. Among eSmart Systems’ customers are the world’s leading transmission and distribution system companies in Europe and US, as well as prominent utilities and energy retailers.
EQUINOR ENERGY VENTURES. Equinor’s 200 MUSD venture capital fund was launched in February 2016. With a team in both Europe and North America and a long term approach, the fund is dedicated to investing up to 20 MUSD in attractive and ambitious growth companies in renewable and low carbon energy technologies, supporting Equinor’s strategy of growth in new energy solutions.
NYSNØ. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund geared toward climate investments is set up as a commercial company that invests in technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nysnø invests alongside private investors looking for profitable, climate friendly investments. Established in December 2017, by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Nysnø´s investment mandate is described in the national budget for 2018. Nysnø is based in Stavanger, Norway and has been operational since mid-2018.
KONGSBERG DIGITAL. Kongsberg Digital is a provider of next-generation software and digital solutions to customers within maritime, oil and gas, and renewables and utilities. The company consists of more than 500 software experts with leading competence within the internet of things, smart data, artificial intelligence, maritime simulation, automation and autonomous operations. Kongsberg Digital is subsidiary of KONGSBERG (OSE-ticker: KOG), an international, knowledge based group delivering high-technology systems and solutions to clients within the oil and gas industry, subsea, merchant marine, defence and aerospace. KONGSBERG has 7.000 employees located in more than 25 countries, creating a total revenue of NOK 14.5 billion in 2017.
ADVISORS
To eSmart Systems:
- Financial Advisor: DNB Markets
- Legal: Advokatfirmaet CLP DA
To Equinor Energy Ventures and Nysno:
- Financial and tax due diligence: Deloitte – Nikolai Maldan
- Legal due diligence and negotiation: Haavind – Kjetil Hardeng and Andreas Vik.
To KDI:
- Legal: Thommesen
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