Fat Spaniel Technologies: Energy Monitoring

[16 October, 2006]
Fat Spaniel Gains $7M To Be Distributed Energy Watchdog
Dow Jones

Even as solar panels and micro-turbines sprout on rooftops across the country, an ability to measure how much power the new energy generators actually produce has proved elusive.

Now a company called Fat Spaniel Technologies Inc. has just closed $7 million in its first round of venture capital funding to bring a new monitoring and management technology to market that gauges exactly how much and how well new energy generators work.

The San Jose-based company raised approximately $3.5 million in initial capital from the Radnor, Pa.-based, energy-focused venture capital firm, DFJ Element earlier this year. Today, the company said DFJ Element contributed an additional $1.5 million and new investor Chrysalix Energy invested another $2 million to close the round, according to Fat Spaniel Chief Executive Officer, Chris Beekhuis.

“This particular capital is to help us expand our partnerships,” Beekhuis said. Fat Spaniel relies on original equipment manufacturer relationships to bring its products to market. The company has 450 installations of its monitoring and management systems and plans to ship more than 2,000 systems by the end of next year, according to Beekhuis.

Market demand for distributed generation technologies, chiefly solar arrays, has soared in the past few years and new legislation enacted in California over the past year has only given another boost to the market. Several hundred kilowatts of solar power are expected to be generated in the next year, and as that power comes online, investors are looking for better ways to gauge the efficacy of the power generation systems, Beekhuis said.

That demand is creating a market for Fat Spaniel and other power monitoring and management technologies. Recently, Washington-based GridPoint Inc. announced a $21 million investment from venture backers led by Goldman Sachs for power management and smart grid solutions. Another power grid-scale energy monitoring and management company, East Hanover, N.J.-based Comverge Inc., has filed for a $90 million initial public offering.

Fat Spaniel provides three different types of services: diagnostics and maintenance of distributed generation systems; market data about the efficacy of systems; and finally billing data and reporting to regulatory agencies.

Founded by Beekhuis in 2003, Fat Spaniel has 29 employees. As a result of the latest investment from Chrysalix Energy, Greg Sullivan, a managing director with the firm, will join DFJ Element managing director Tim Newell on the Fat Spaniel board of directors. David Lincoln, a DFJ Element managing director, will step down as a director, but continue as an observer on the board.

About DFJ Element
DFJ Element is a leading venture capital fund investing in clean technology. Element invests in emerging companies bringing innovative solutions to environmental and resource constraints in energy, water and other large industrial and commercial markets. Launched in 2005 by Element Venture Partners in partnership with leading global venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Element is managed by the industry's most experienced group of dedicated clean technology investors. The Element principals have invested more than $225 million in over 40 companies in the clean technology sectors. For more information, send queries to [email protected]

About Fat Spaniel Technologies
Based in San Jose, CA, Fat Spaniel Technologies (FST) provides critical IT infrastructure and services for distributed power generation. FST services include data monitoring, system management & control, and financial reporting. FST's independent, third-party solutions enable system owners, installers, integrators, OEMs and utilities to optimize the delivery of distributed energy, recognize revenue, mitigate risk, control costs, and bring new business models to market. FST products are presently deployed worldwide on both renewable and fossil-fuel distributed energy systems including solar, wind, fuel cells, microturbines, combined heat & power systems and diesel generators. For more information, visit www.fatspaniel.com

About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson is the only venture capital firm with global presence through a network of affiliated funds, with offices in more than 30 cities around the world and more than $3.5 billion in capital commitments. DFJ's mission is to identify, serve and provide capital for extraordinary entrepreneurs anywhere who are determined to change the world. Over the past twenty years, DFJ has been proud to back approximately 300 companies across many sectors including such industry changing catalysts as Hotmail (acquired by MSFT), Baidu (BIDU), Skype (acquired by EBAY), United Online (UNTD), Overture (acquired by YHOO), Interwoven (IWOV), 411 (acquired by YHOO), Parametric (PMTC), and Digidesign (acquired by AVID). For more information, visit www.dfj.com

About Chrysalix Energy
Chrysalix Energy invests in and supports compelling technologies and entrepreneurial management teams that address the changing demands of the global energy industry.

Founded in 2001, we actively work with our clients and support them with deep industry and technical knowledge, management and board assistance, organized networking with industrial and financial partners, management of intellectual property, and direct access to capital.

Investors in the Chrysalix Energy Partnerships include Ballard Power Systems, BASF Venture Capital, BOC, Citigroup, Consensus Business Group, Delta Lloyd, Essent, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Lexington Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, Robeco, Shell Hydrogen, Teachers' Private Capital and West LB Mellon Asset Management. For more information, visit www.chrysalix.com

DFJ Element, LP/Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Carolyn Tell
(650) 233-9000
[email protected]