ImpactAlpha, January 22 – Oakland, Calif.-based Powerhouse is venturing into startup investing with the launch of a seed fund. Powerhouse has so far secured $5.5 million from Total Energy Ventures, Centrica Innovations, NRG’s former CEO David Crane, former California PUC commissioner Mark Ferron and solar company NEXTracker’s Dan Shugar.
Powerhouse started as an incubator program for clean energy startups in 2013, and is expanding into venture investing to support its network of startups in securing early capital. It is looking to make investments of $50,000 to $200,000 in pre- and early-revenue companies, GTM reports. It is specifically looking for startups introducing new digital technologies to the energy sector.
Powerhouse has already made four investments. They include: operational and financial modeling company Station A; energy management software company Solstice Energy; low-cost smart meter manufacturer SparkMeter (which caters to underserved markets) and automated energy trading platform Leap.
