As vice president of sales at Bloom Energy, the fuel cell startup that went public in 2018, John Reuter encountered energy teams at corporations and utilities that wanted to transition to clean energy or implement efficiency measures.
They just lacked the data to make the financial case. Projects would take from six to 24 months to get approved.
His new venture, Clear Current, uses AI to bring transparency to reams of fragmented energy data to help companies transition more quickly and manage and optimize their energy usage.
“Artificial intelligence,” says Reuter, “is now good enough that it can consider all that information.”
The Albuquerque-based company, developed with venture studio and investor Montauk Climate, has raised over $4 million in seed funding led by Rho Ignition, with participation from Coreline Ventures and Avesta Fund.
Electron Economy
Clear Current is the seventh venture launched by Montauk Climate.
“We’re focused on building out what we view as a once in a generation opportunity to capitalize on the electron economy,” Montauk’s Sharo Atmeh tells ImpactAlpha. Atmeh led special situations and climate tech investing at Citadel spin-off Alyeska before cofounding Montauk in 2023.
Electricity, the company says, will become as programmable as software; adding intelligence to the grid will create “entirely new business models and market opportunities that dwarf the commodity value of the electrons themselves.”
Over the past year, Montauk has launched five businesses from scratch generating just under $100 million in equity value for investors, said Atmeh, including drone-based monitoring startup Raad and parametric insurance provider Adaptive Insurance.
Nerve center
Electricity demand is spiking as data centers gobble up more energy and cars and buildings are increasingly powered by electricity. Clear Current aims to be the “energy nerve center” for utilities, hyperscalers, and corporations grappling with growing electricity loads. Its energy management software helps smooth energy procurement, forecasting, consumption, and reporting.
Clear Current is piloting its software with beer maker AB InBev and a data center REIT.
“Clear Current’s virtual energy manager could transform our approach, enabling our team to better monitor, manage, and streamline operations while staying ahead of market shifts and internal targets,” said Adam Spunberg at 100+ Accelerator, a corporate sustainability program sponsored by AB InBev and other brands.
