STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 23, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Plexigrid, a deep tech company in the electricity grid space, has raised €2 million to develop the necessary technology to make power grids more flexible through software and, prepare them for the energy transition.
Founded in 2020, Plexigrid co-developed its revolutionary grid technology with leading utility EDP. At scale, it has the potential to save USD 300 billion annually in capacity upgrades for electricity grid operators worldwide. The round was led by TheVentureCity, a global early-stage Venture Capital fund headquartered in Miami.
Plexigrid can convert current power grids into flexible ones. Its deep tech shows where and when the grid is overloaded or underutilized.
The technology developed by the company allows flexible devices (like electric vehicles, heat pumps or batteries) to be re-scheduled at times of local grid congestions. By doing so, grid operators can save costly and time consuming grid upgrades.
The company, which already has a team of 25 people of 14 nationalities, is headquartered in Gijón (Spain) and Stockholm (Sweden), and works at full speed to develop a new operating system that will transform the way electricity grids are managed.
"Plexigrid's work will make the world's current power grids more flexible, cost-effective, controllable, and robust," explained Alberto Méndez, CEO and co-founder of the company.
"We are developing our technology practically from scratch because electrical grids, surprisingly, still operate according to 100-year-old technological criteria," he added.
Among the founders of the project are Alberto Méndez, former Regional CEO at Siemens-Gamesa and Head of Wind at Vattenfall, Rubén Medina, Director of Engineering and Construction at OX2 and Vattenfall, and Pablo Abóyela, Professor in Electrical Engineering and founder of the Laboratory for Electrical Energy Management Unified Research at the University of Oviedo.
Plexigrid is now planning the next steps in its growth strategy. To this end, the company intends to launch a new round of financing before the summer to raise an additional 10 million euros to further strengthen its technology and expand internationally. Some of the leading European and American VC and PE funds have already shown interest in the round.
According to the International Energy Agency study "Net Zero 2050," 500-800 billion USD annually will be needed from 2030 onwards to make the grid fit for the energy transition. With Plexigrid technology 35% of these investments could be avoided, and the savings shared with the electricity consumers in exchange for their flexibility.
"Electricity grids are the backbone of the energy system but are becoming the largest bottleneck of the energy transition," adds Ruben Medina.
"With Plexigrid technology we can solve this bottleneck in the fastest, most affordable and sustainable way," Méndez explains.
