Rubicon Technology Partners (RTP), the investor for Tendril, will own the majority stake in Uplight

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Image: AES and Uplight are expected to work together on community solar, e-mobility and advanced C&I offerings. Photo: Courtesy of Tumisu from Pixabay.

Tendril and Simple Energy have been merged to form the new Uplight, a new company that offers a suite of customer-facing solutions for electric and gas utilities.

The merged entity is set to combine the recent acquisitions of EEme, EnergySavvy and FirstFuel with Tendril’s data analytics platform and Simple Energy’s consumer engagement marketplace to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions for electric and gas utilities.

In addition, it would provide an end-to-end energy action system that transcends utility silos and leverages energy interactions across every channel, program and solution, with its demand side management, analytics and advanced personalisation.

AES invests $53m (£42m) in Uplight

AES has made a strategic investment of $53m (£42m) in the new company, as part of the transaction. AES and the new entity are expected to work together on community solar, e-mobility and advanced C&I offerings, with an aim to deploy Uplight platform in Latin America.

AES president and CEO Andrés Gluski said: “Uplight enables utilities to better engage their customers toward the efficient use of energy. Together with Uplight, we are dedicated to applying leading energy technologies that give our customers a competitive edge.”

Rubicon Technology Partners (RTP), the investor for Tendril, will own the majority stake in Uplight and AES is expected to join RTP.

In the transaction, the total stake of AES in Uplight was valued at $114m (£91m), which includes the $53m (£42m) new equity investment and its existing ownership interest in Simple Energy.

Steve Carpenter from Rubicon Technology Partners said: “At Rubicon, we focus on investing in enterprise software companies with proven products and talented management teams to help grow and scale their businesses.

“We are excited to partner with AES in combining our deep software experience, best practices, and network with their energy expertise and insights. In addition, they share our collaborative approach to engagement with the businesses in which we invest. We look forward to a successful partnership in Uplight.”