OPOWER, a Smart Grid software company, announced the closing of a $50 million strategic round of financing. The round was co-led by Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), OPOWER’s largest investor. The investment will support OPOWER’s rapid expansion and accelerate its product development efforts in order to add new products and features to its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform in 2011. Global demand for OPOWER’s products and services is at an all-time high. The company’s platform has been proven to help electric and gas utilities engage their customers, drive unprecedented gains in energy efficiency, and improve customer satisfaction. OPOWER’s prior financing was in 2008, with capital raised from NEA and early-stage fund MHS Capital.
“We are thrilled to raise this strategic round of financing from three of the best venture capital firms in the business,” said Dan Yates, CEO and co-founder of OPOWER. “The addition of Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers builds on the strength of our existing investors, and is an important step forward in achieving our goal of engaging tens of millions of households about their energy use and helping drive the next wave of energy efficiency in the U.S. and abroad.”