Raleigh startup that helps make factories more energy efficient raises $6M
Ndustrial, a Raleigh-based startup that makes software and internet-of-things technology to digitize factories, has raised $6 million from investors and is planning a large expansion of its workforce in the coming year, the company said Wednesday.
The company, whose offices are on Fayetteville Street in downtown, uses its software to make factories more efficient with how they tap into the energy grid. Its customers include large cold storage warehouses and firms in the biotechnology industry.
The company’s algorithm and sensors plug in heaps of real-time data about how large facilities are using energy. Ndustrial’s platform then helps determine how these warehouses can be more efficient.
The funding round is being led by the venture arm of the utility company ENGIE and Clean Energy Ventures, a venture capital firm.
“We were really looking for patient capital,” said Jason Massey, the CEO of Ndustrial and a former investor in his own right. “They’re predisposed to longer-term thinking.”
In a statement, Daniel Goldman, the managing director of Clean Energy Ventures, said Ndustrial’s technology can significantly impact the carbon emissions of industrial sites.
“Their tangible application of machine learning for energy efficiency and process improvement stands apart,” he said. “We believe their technology has the potential to materially impact carbon emissions in older industrial facilities across a wide range of sectors, and we’re looking forward to helping them scale their innovative technology.”
Massey said Ndustrial, which was started in 2011, has a chance to ride a wave of interest in green-energy technology over the next few years. President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, for instance, proposes large investments into green energy.
“The floodgates are starting to open,” Massey said in a video call.
Room for expansion
The company plans to complete 168 projects this year, mainly at cold storage facilities. One of the company’s largest customers is Lineage Logistics, which operates hundreds of cold storage facilities across the U.S. The company is also an investor in Ndustrial.
According to one case study, Ndustrial helped Lineage curb its energy costs by 8% between 2014 and 2017, helping save $4 million for the cold-storage company.
Massey said Ndustrial will use the funding to expand beyond cold storage.
While the pandemic prevented Ndustrial from doing a lot of its projects, which require on-site work, its forecasted projects for 2021 represents an increase from the 70 projects it worked on in 2019.
Massey said the investment and increase in demand will necessitate a large hiring spree for Ndustrial, both in engineering and sales talent.
Currently, the company has around 30 employees, a number that stayed steady during the pandemic. But within the next four years, Massey said the company could grow to 175 to 200 employees.
While the company prefers to hire local talent, Massey said Ndustrial is now open to hiring remote workers.
“Ideally, you’d still look more locally to find local talent, but you’ve also got to go where the talent is,” Massey said. “And Silicon Valley has been coming in and recruiting pretty heavily from RTP area, so you’re seeing wages go up.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
