(Credit: Fermata Energy)Fermata Energy, a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology services provider, announced that it raised $40 million in investments to accelerate the company’s growth.
Carlyle and Verizon Ventures are two new investors, while existing investors include Skyview Ventures, I Squared Capital, and ClearSky.
Fermata offers bidirectional EV chargers along with proprietary software to enable electricity contained in electric vehicle car batteries to be sent back to the grid or used to directly power a home or building. With the need for increased battery capacity to store renewably generated electricity, electric vehicles, paired with bidirectional charging products such as Fermata’s, are expected to play a significant role in the renewable energy economy. Benefits of V2X include added resiliency in our energy infrastructure, financial opportunities for EV owners, and more affordable EVs for people to purchase or lease.
“When I set out to create a company that accelerated the adoption of EVs by making them more affordable, while at the same time fortifying the electric grid, I did not imagine how quickly this technology would take off, and how important our technology would prove to be, particularly in light of climate change,” said Fermata founder and CEO, David Slutzky.
Fermata’s technology has a proven track record, with successful projects in the City of Boulder and the Alliance Center in Denver.
End users such as fleet owners are given an added incentive to electrify their commercial vehicles given the revenue-generating capabilities of the technology.
Slutzky stated that, “Each partner brings unique, strategic benefits, and we are thrilled to leverage those in the coming months.” For example, investment firm Carlyle will manage the funds while Verizon Venture’s communications technology helps manage and track distributed clean energy. In July 2021, as part of their participation in the 5G Studio, a collaboration between Verizon and Newlab, Fermata’s energy management software successfully leveraged Verizon's 5G Ultra Wideband network to react to changes in the grid based on near real-time data and with near-zero latency.
The market outlook for vehicle-to-grid technology is encouraging: a report from last month found that it is helping drive growth in building energy management systems. A similar report found that the value of the latter will hit $12.7 billion by 2030.
