Building Better: National Grid Partners and APERIO
Welcome to the NVCA Blog series, Building Better, where we celebrate the dynamic relationship between our VC members and their innovative portfolio companies around the nation. For today’s Building Better, we spoke to Andre Turenne, Vice President, Investments of National Grid Partners & Jonas Hellgren, CEO of APERIO. Learn about their partnership in the Q&A below!
National Grid Partners
Give us some background on your firm: How did the firm start, what is your mission and how does the firm strive to meet its goals?
National Grid Partners is the venture investment and innovation arm of one of the world’s largest publicly traded energy utilities, National Grid. We were founded in 2018 to help “future proof” National Grid by helping accelerate the adoption of new technologies and foster a culture of innovation at National Grid. We do this by investing in startups at the intersection of energy and emerging tech like AI; providing business development and marketing support; launching new businesses from scratch, where appropriate; and helping infuse an entrepreneurial culture across National Grid and the broader utility industry.
What does your firm look for in a partner when choosing to invest in a portfolio company? What does the firm value? What do you especially value in the APERIO’s team?
We invest in innovative technologies, top quality management teams, demonstrated or potential for high growth, large markets and very importantly – relevance to National Grid’s strategic goals. APERIO fits that bill by uniquely solving a problem that’s been around for decades: Industrial companies have tried and failed to guarantee the integrity of all the data spread across their respective enterprises.
How does National Grid support its portfolio companies? How does it help entrepreneurs grow and advance the VC industry?
Our team has more than 100 years’ combined investing experience and 125 years’ utility industry experience, and we’re committed to supporting our portfolio companies at every growth stage for the long-term. In addition to offering an expansive network across the energy industry through our NextGrid Alliance, historically more than 80% of our portfolio companies have had strategic engagements with National Grid business units. We provide access to the U.S. and UK core business as testing ground for emerging technologies, and we offer impactful portfolio services such as utility industry roundtables, technology days and PR/marketing support.
Q&A with APERIO
What is the mission of your company and how did you start?
Powered by AI and machine learning, APERIO automatically validates operational data at scale to improve accuracy, security, and value for industrial manufacturers, allowing for smarter business decisions based on trusted data. APERIO was founded with the belief that the world needs accurate and reliable process data – if people have poor data, then the models, outcomes, and results are fundamentally flawed. By providing improved data quality for its customers, we’re helping energy companies combat climate change and support the sustainability goals of the communities they serve.
Where and how is your company looking to grow into the next 5 years?
APERIO has been on a remarkable growth trajectory from its first round of funding in October 2020 to our most recent round in August 2023. APERIO enables some of the most respected industrial automation software companies in the world, including Fortune 500 companies, to drastically improve the accuracy and reliability of their operational data, thereby optimizing performance and minimizing risk. In the next five years, APERIO will be focused on adding new features aimed at scaling to meet rapidly increasing customer demand.
What problem is your company trying to solve?
Accurate and trusted data is imperative for making informed business decisions. Without it, any function or decision that relies on this data is essentially worthless. Our technology identifies bad data through anomaly detection, then resolves it quickly to enable smarter operations with guaranteed accuracy across the industrial value chain.
How has National Grid impacted your company’s future for the better?
National Grid Partners has been incredibly committed to our success since day one. We took the investment because we were actively looking not only for strategic investors in this space, but for a partner – we didn’t want to take money from people who were looking to invest in just anything. National Grid Partners is not only an investor but an operator in the space, so they understand the challenges we face. We’re on the same team working towards the same goal, and we look forward to building together towards a better future.
