Kevala Raises $21M to Modernize Energy Grid Management

Kevala Secures $21 Million in Series A Funding to Advance Grid Analytics

Kevala, a company specializing in the collection and analysis of data pertaining to energy grid infrastructure, has successfully completed a $21 million Series A funding round. The company serves a diverse clientele including utility companies, renewable energy providers, EV charging firms, regulatory bodies, and other key players within the energy sector.

Expansion Plans and Team Growth

The newly acquired capital will be strategically allocated to facilitate the expansion of Kevala’s team. The company intends to increase its workforce from its current size of 60 employees to approximately 100 by the close of 2021. Furthermore, resources will be dedicated to broadening the deployment of its advanced grid analytics tools.

The Assessor Platform: A Comprehensive Grid Analytics Toolbox

Kevala’s core offering, the Assessor Platform, is an interactive, cloud-based toolbox designed for grid analytics. This platform empowers various energy industry stakeholders to effectively utilize the extensive data sets collected by Kevala from both public sources and direct client contributions.

The platform’s capabilities center around predicting and proactively planning for challenges such as extreme weather events, the increasing integration of renewable energy sources, and the growing demand driven by the electrification of transportation, buildings, and industrial processes.

Addressing the Complexity of the Modern Energy Landscape

Today’s energy ecosystem is characterized by an unprecedented diversity of both energy sources and consumption points. Coupled with the increasing frequency of severe weather events – exemplified by the recent power outages in New Orleans following Hurricane Ida – the existing grid infrastructure is facing significant strain.

Sophisticated visualization software, leveraging artificial intelligence to correlate grid demand with crucial data points like local demographics, electrical wiring maps, and the locations of solar installations, is becoming indispensable for effective grid management.

While Alphabet’s X division is entering this field through a partnership with AES to simulate distribution grids, Kevala has been dedicated to this space since 2014 and is well-positioned to emerge as a leading force in the industry.

Industry Expert Endorsement and Investment

“Kevala possesses a significant first-mover advantage in delivering comprehensive big data analytics focused on grid infrastructure,” stated Zulfe Ali, managing partner at C5 Capital. C5 Capital’s C5 Impact Partners LP spearheaded the Series A round, joined by Thin Line Capital.

The round also saw participation from seasoned energy sector leaders, including Tom Werner, chairman and former CEO of SunPower Corp., and Mark Ferron, former California Public Utilities Commissioner.

Ali further expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, highlighting Kevala’s planned expansion into new areas like cybersecurity and national security, as well as geographic expansion beyond the United States.

Data Acquisition and Coverage

Kevala has already mapped a substantial portion of the country’s above-ground distribution infrastructure and is actively working to extend its data coverage internationally. The company’s data, reportedly totaling terabytes in size, is primarily sourced from publicly accessible information.

This includes data obtainable through satellite imagery and building permits, enabling Kevala to pinpoint the locations of wind turbines and rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Predictive Analytics and Investment Optimization

“We can analyze energy consumption patterns in a localized area, factoring in weather conditions and the potential energy production from rooftop PV systems,” explained Kevala founder and CEO Aram Shumavon. “This allows us to assess the impact of investments in various technologies on grid loading and utilization, ultimately optimizing resource allocation and cost efficiency.”

Scenario Planning and Load Management

During a demonstration of Kevala’s dashboard, Shumavon illustrated how stakeholders could predict potential increases in EV ownership within specific neighborhoods based on demographic data. Visualizing the ratio of electricity demand to renewable energy generation aids in forecasting power usage.

He then simulated the impact of strategically placing a battery storage system in that location, asking, “Could I reduce the cost of the grid in this area by limiting the need for building out new infrastructure in the form of wires, and instead shifting that load to another period of time?”

The platform can calculate potential savings from investments in batteries, energy efficiency measures, rooftop PV systems, or demand response programs.

Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

Kevala is also expanding its cybersecurity services to safeguard grid infrastructure. A key focus is on third-party devices susceptible to compromise, potentially destabilizing the grid. For instance, a coordinated attack on numerous IoT-connected washing machines could create a sudden surge in electricity demand.

While traditional utility control systems may lack the visibility to detect such anomalies, Shumavon asserts that Kevala’s energy use data monitoring allows for the identification and mitigation of these threats, as well as proactive planning for future attacks.

Data privacy is also a paramount concern. “We’re seeing increasingly large amounts of information about end-use customers become potentially available when they use electricity,” Shumavon noted. “Ensuring that this data, when used by third parties, does not reveal personally identifiable information is a critical service we provide, closely aligned with our cybersecurity efforts. We view cybersecurity and privacy as two sides of the same coin.”