Sewickley-based BPL Global, a utility company innovator, has received $23 million in funding, a mix of growth capital, bank financing and acquisition financing.
All but one investor this time around has formerly invested in BPLG, which received funding in 2007 of $26 million: Novitas Capital (formerly PA Early Stage), IFA Group, El Dorado and Morgan Stanley. Cross Atlantic Capital Partners is new to BPLG in this recent round.
“We’re very blessed that we have a diversified group of investors that have been with us from the very beginning,” says Keith Schaefer, CEO. “We’re always fortunate to get one or two new ones along the way.”
The funding will help accelerate product development, support corporate development and increase sales and business teams globally. BPLG, currently at 130 full-time employees globally, will double in size over the next year to 250. The Sewickley office will double in size from 16 to 32, Schaefer says.
Founded in 2004 with funding by Founders, Innovation Works and Novitas Capital, BPLG is rapidly working to improve the efficiency of the utility industry on a global scale. As a leading developer of smart-grid software and integrated hardware technology, BPLG's goal is to help utility suppliers work with customers to coordinate a comprehensive energy flow system that will save customers money while providing a cleaner, greener and streamlined energy source.
The company is currently developing systems in Africa, the Ukraine,
Venezuela, Latin America and Europe and was named one of 10 companies to watch in The Clean Tech Revolution, a book highlighting someof the nation's top sustainable enterprises released by Collins last year.
"Somewhere around 2009 or 2010, the lightbulb will go on in the United States. Hopefully it will be green and you'll see consumers saving 10 percent on bills and utilities improving their efficiency. The least expensive and fastest way to improve the (utilities') system and reduce emissions is by becoming more efficient with what we already have. It will be a very different world."
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Keith Schaefer, Thorne King, BPL Global
Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Keith Schaefer. Thorne King, BPL Global
Image courtesy BPL