PETALUMA, Calif., July 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- energyOrbit, provider of a leading cloud solution for demand-side management (“DSM”) management, tracking, reporting, and participant engagement, has joined forces with Apogee Interactive – a provider of customer engagement, education, and communication software – and AIQUEOUS – a provider of customer relationship and program management software – as a premier customer relationship and engagement platform for utilities and utility service providers. The combined entity is backed by M33 Growth, a growth stage investment firm that partners with founders and management teams seeking a partner to help them breakthrough as market leaders.
For more than 14 years, energyOrbit has empowered DSM managers to more quickly set up, modify, and execute energy efficiency, demand response and water conservation programs. In consideration of emerging zero-emission targets to mitigate climate change concerns worldwide, energyOrbit has collaborated with utilities to envision and explore new avenues beyond energy efficiency and electrification. These include helping reduce carbon emissions and encourage electric vehicle market support, as well as solar, wind, and other clean energy developments.
“We are excited to welcome the energyOrbit team to the Apogee and AIQUEOUS family,” says Jim Malcom, Chief Operating Officer for Apogee. “With the addition of energyOrbit, the combined entity is able to provide more robust solutions to the utility vertical and provide an integrated, end-to-end offering for utility programs while also supporting customer engagement throughout the program lifecycle.”
“Utilities face evolving challenges across the energy transition, including decarbonization, drought and resilience, among others. This new alliance between energyOrbit, Apogee Interactive, and AIQUEOUS will enhance our ability to provide a single yet robust solution to our customers that aims to address these challenges, built on our collective domain expertise and experience,” said Udi Merhav, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, energyOrbit.
“Shifting from Customer Information Systems to Customer Relationship Management systems is critical to help utilities engage their customers' attention beyond the monthly bill,” said Jonathan Kleinman, CEO of AIQUEOUS. “Combining energyOrbit and AIQUEOUS gives us an opportunity to learn from our experiences and create a product roadmap that delivers on not just what our clients need now, but also where utilities, retailers, CCAs and suppliers need to go for their customers. I am excited to start building with the energyOrbit team.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with energyOrbit to reshape how utilities today manage and execute on their customer-facing programs,” said Brian Shortsleeve, Co-Founder and Managing Director of M33 Growth. “We believe the combination of Apogee, AIQUEOUS and energyOrbit raises the bar for what it means to be a provider of end-to-end customer experience software purpose-built for utilities.”
“With the support of M33 Growth, we can better help utilities and related sectors advance and manage their offerings through programs, such as those supported by the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Merhav. Malcom added, “M33 Growth continues to demonstrate their commitment to building best-in-class software businesses.”
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
About energyOrbit
Founded in 2009 and based in Petaluma, Calif., energyOrbit is the market-leading solution for cloud energy efficiency and Demand-Side Management operations. energyOrbit is deployed with leading utilities, program administrators, and third-party implementers across North America, enabling customers to realize an average of up to 75 percent improved efficiency and savings in their DSM operations. energyOrbit empowers utilities to deploy DSM programs in hours, scale programs and portfolios efficiently, and to streamline utility customer relationships, partners, and internal communications seamlessly. For details, visit https://energy-orbit.com/ and follow on LinkedIn.
About Apogee
Apogee Interactive, Inc. is a provider of customer engagement software for utilities, serving the energy industry since 1993. Apogee’s customer engagement platform helps utilities establish ongoing digital relationships with customers, helping them engage and educate customers, reduce costs, achieve behavioral energy efficiency, and grow customer satisfaction. Apogee’s solution enables personalized, relevant, video-based messaging through multiple channels, drives self-service, and improves operational efficiencies through marketing automation. Apogee’s loyal client base includes Commonwealth Edison, Liberty Utilities, ConEd, Duquesne, Tampa Electric, People’s Gas, CenterPoint, Xcel Energy, LADWP, and hundreds of other IOU, municipal, cooperative, and gas utilities. For more information, visit www.apogee.net.
About AIQUEOUS
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, AIQUEOUS provides customer relationship and program management software to utilities and utility service providers. AIQUEOUS’s clients use POWERPATH, WaterWays and ECOiQ in 8 states and 2 Canadian provinces, and completed over 47,800 projects in 2022 providing nearly $60 million in incentives or rebates to their customers. AIQUEOUS products aim to increase customer satisfaction, provide visibility and transparency across services and programs and improve staff productivity and system security. AIQUEOUS is SOC 2 compliant and meets security requirements for investor-owned and publicly-owned utilities. Learn more at www.aiqueous.com.
About M33 Growth
M33 Growth is a venture and growth-stage investment firm that partners with founders and CEOs who have bootstrapped their companies to strong growth and are positioned to rapidly scale their companies and breakthrough as market leaders. With industry experience fueling sales and marketing engines, driving acquisitions, and building value through data assets, M33 Growth seeks to propel portfolio companies to succeed in their markets. Founded by veterans of investment firms with considerable operational experience, the Boston-based firm seeks to invest in companies in the software, healthcare, and services sectors throughout North America. Learn more at www.m33growth.com.
Media Contacts:
Cathy Morley Foster
energyOrbit
925-708-7893
cmorleyfoster@energy-orbit.com
Karen Morris
678-684-6801
kmorris@apogee.net
