{"id":45754,"date":"2023-10-20T15:46:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/this-melbourne-clean-tech-startup-has-an-eye-on-new-innovations-after-securing-11-5-million-in-series-b-funding-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:46:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:08","slug":"this-melbourne-clean-tech-startup-has-an-eye-on-new-innovations-after-securing-11-5-million-in-series-b-funding-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/this-melbourne-clean-tech-startup-has-an-eye-on-new-innovations-after-securing-11-5-million-in-series-b-funding-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"This Melbourne clean tech startup has an eye on new innovations after securing $11.5 million in series B funding – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"GreenSync<\/div>\n

\u201cThe energy industry and energy market is undergoing a pretty transformational change,\u201d says Dr Phil Blythe.<\/p>\n

As power grids become decentralised, he says, it\u2019s opening up the opportunity to redesign the way electricity is managed across the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Australia that\u2019s happened faster than anywhere else in the world,\u201d Blythe tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

His startup GreenSync, which just closed an $11.5 million series B<\/a>, is one of the few seizing the chance to make electricity smarter, cheaper and simpler.<\/p>\n

GreenSync uses smart control and coordination to increase the number of renewable sources and battery storage systems that can be integrated into central power grids. Since its launch in 2010, the company has received more than $13 million in investment from both government and private funds to see its innovations brought to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never really stop raising capital,\u201d says Blythe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision to raise a serious amount of capital is about how we build the technology that allows us to scale globally and move globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key driver is the rise of battery storage around the world \u2026 we\u2019re very much at the forefront of that wave in Australia and we want to be at the front of that wave as it propagates around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compelling investors to fund the unknown<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Blythe says GreenSync\u2019s latest round of funding took almost 12 months to secure, with one of the biggest concerns raised being their venture into largely unchartered territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key challenge in all of this is: tell us how your global expansion and scalability story is going to work in a market that\u2019s yet to develop?\u201d says Blythe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one\u2019s got a crystal ball on exactly how that\u2019s going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

From collecting big data to developing smart algorithms and using driverless car technology, Blythe says the business will mitigate this risk by keeping a close eye on new innovations to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re technology-agnostic, we integrate with all forms of technology and provide that architectural overlay,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The difference between government and private sector investors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Before partnering with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a part of the federal government\u2019s Clean Energy Innovation Fund, and Southern Cross Venture Partners\u2019 renewable energy fund, Blythe says GreenSync explored potential investors across the US, Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shot far and wide,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe needed well regarded corner stone investors with experience in our sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

While both types of investors have their strengths, Blythe says investment from cabinet funds brings a high level of local credibility, while funding from a renowned venture capital firm can offer \u201cimmediate international traction\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a balance we\u2019ve struck with homegrown investment and offshore.”<\/p>\n

When pitching for government funding, Blythe says it\u2019s important to focus on local value with international traction being a \u201csecondary benefit\u201d. This means establishing a “domestic backbone” though a solid base of customers in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re certainly a different flavour when it comes to government,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment funds really do require that good news story at a domestic level.”<\/p>\n

Don’t seek investment till it’s the right time<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It wasn\u2019t until GreenSync established an \u201celite\u201d position in the regional clean tech market and attention on decentralising electricity intensified that Blythe and his team began approaching investors, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperating off of the minimum amount of cash for as a long as possible is always the best way [but] that\u2019s not always possible,\u201d says Blythe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to get through the valley of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way to keep growing without external investment, says Blythe, is to experiment with revenue streams.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can bootstrap for longer by having different business models early on and adapting them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising capital is all about the timing in the market [and] the best ideas can sometimes fail if you don\u2019t have the timing right.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait as long as possible till the market is really burning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and iTunes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe energy industry and energy market is undergoing a pretty transformational change,\u201d says Dr Phil Blythe. As power grids become decentralised,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,8,11,22,6,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}