SteamaCo completes $5m Series B financing with Praetura Ventures and Shell New Ventures
18 July 2019, Manchester, UK — SteamaCo, a UK-based technology supplier to utilities in Africa and Asia, today announces its $5m Series B equity financing. This latest round of funding supports the company’s continued technology development and growth, enabling reliable electricity services for hundreds of thousands of previously underserved people across 10 countries. Praetura Ventures and Shell co-led the investment round, with participation from existing shareholders.
SteamaCo’s smart metering technology and cloud software run on less than 100kB of communications data per meter per month. This is 100 times more efficient than comparable services and enables utilities to operate in previously unreachable locations. The potential market for such technologies is vast. Mini grids, for example, could provide electricity for up to 500 million people by 2030, according to a recent World Bank report.
Harrison Leaf, CEO and Co-founder at SteamaCo, said, “We are delighted to welcome Praetura and honoured to have continued participation from existing shareholders. Automation is a key part of the historic privatisation of utilities in Africa and Asia. Tens of thousands of times each day, our product processes tariffs, monitors grid health and helps technicians, agents and consumers seamlessly go about their daily business. It is hugely motivating to everyone at SteamaCo that our work helps bring electricity to those who have never had it.”
David Foreman, Chief Executive Officer at Praetura Ventures, said, “We are very impressed with the team’s strategy and the unique capabilities of their product. We are pleased to announce SteamaCo among the initial investments from our first £15m enterprise investment scheme fund. We are excited to work with both SteamaCo and Shell to support the business as it continues to grow.”
“SteamaCo has expanded over the last two years, including deployments in Nigeria, Kenya, and India,” said Brian Davis, Shell Vice President Energy Solutions. “Through its support of mini grid operations, SteamaCo is just one example of how Shell is moving towards its ambition to deliver a reliable electricity supply to 100 million people in the developing world by 2030.”
About SteamaCo
The utility of the future powers the world’s largest unserved market - 1.2bn unconnected people. Yet standing between the utility and the consumer are many miles of tough landscape, unreliable infrastructure and a lack of data. Founded in Kenya in 2012, SteamaCo enables its customers to sell energy anywhere on the planet. Forged in the most exacting technical environments, its universal smart meter automates any distributed energy asset, even in low- or no-connectivity locations, for the price of a classic meter.
SteamaCo is headquartered at Manchester Science Park, one of the UK’s leading science and technology campuses, with offices in Kenya.
About Shell Technology Ventures
Shell Technology Ventures B.V. is the corporate venture capital arm of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”). It supports Shell’s New Energies business which was created in 2016. New Energies focuses on two main areas: new fuels for transport, such as advanced biofuels and hydrogen; and power, which includes low- carbon sources such as wind and solar, as well as natural gas. Within the power portfolio, Shell is also actively pursuing investments in scalable commercial businesses that expand energy access to communities who currently have no energy at all or unreliable supply.