As renewable sources of energy like wind and solar power start to gain more momentum, measurement and analysis startup Fat Spaniel may start to see bigger business. Based in San Jose, the company monitors exactly how much power is being generated by renewable systems -- and now it's raised $4.6 million in debt financing to continue meeting demand, according to a filing with the SEC.
Fat Spaniel's software communicates with renewable energy hardware like solar panels and wind turbines. In the future, its technology could eventually be integrated with smart metering infrastructure to keep even closer tabs on how alternative energy is being consumed.
Already, the company has forged a partnership with energy management company Tendril to give utilities all the information they need about the renewable energy their customers are both using and producing. This could grant it greater entree into the smart grid space.
For now, Fat Spaniel has yet to substantially tap the growing residential solar and wind markets. It only just announced the co-development of software and device geared toward homes with Tendril at the end of October -- so the concept is young yet. This will likely prove to be a ripe area for growth for the company.
Just yesterday, SunRun -- a company that installs rooftop solar panels on homes for a minimal fee before charging for the electricity generated -- scored $90 million to convert even more traditional utility customers to solar. If it and its competitors like Solar City are successful in their marketing and public education campaigns, measuring the amount of solar energy produced by these panels will become critical. And that's where Fat Spaniel comes in.
Before it started eyeing the residential market, Fat Spaniel concentrated on providing its software to large commercial clients like Wal-Mart and other big box stores. Increasingly conscious of their environmental footprints from a financial and marketing standpoint, a lot of these stores are converting to renewable sources of energy and enrolling in demand response programs to increase energy efficiency during peak demand periods. Fat Spaniel's offerings help them with both.
Fat Spaniel last raised $18 million in a second round of funding in January of last year. It is backed by Applied Ventures, Chrysalix Energy, Element Partners, Ignition Partners, and PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund.