AlertMe, the consumer home energy management startup, has closed its second round of funding, raising £15 million and bringing in British Gas as a new investor and strategic partner, who is putting in £5.7 million for a 15.96% stake. Existing investors Good Energies, Index Ventures, SET Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners also participated. British Gas will also now deploy AlertMe products and services to its customers in the UK, a deal worth a notional £20m, rolling out two million AlertMe smart meters by 2012.
AlertMe plans to use the cash to expand its partner and channel program in the UK, Europe and the USA, and extend its platform.
The AlertMe Home Area Network (HAN) and cloud-based platform provides two-way communication for real-time monitoring, control, automation and analytics. The platform allows consumers to manage and control the home over the net and via a smart phone, and can save them as much as 15-20% on their energy bills, because you get used to turning things off when you can see it costing money.