Energy Management Software Funded: Hara raises additional 25 M$

Hara, a leading provider of environmental and energy management software, announced that it has received $25 million in Series C funding, the company’s largest round, bringing total investment to $45 million. Participants include Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture of GE (NYSE: GE), NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), and ITOCHU Technology Ventures (ITV), as well as existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), JAFCO Ventures and Nth Power and new backers Focus Ventures and Navitas Capital. The funding will allow Hara to accelerate global expansion and product innovation, to meet growing demand from Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies for solutions to help optimize energy and resource use while minimizing environmental impact.

Hara is adding new strategic investors as it advances its growth plans across industries including manufacturing, utilities and oil and gas. These investors include – through Energy Technology Ventures –world-renowned advanced technology, services and finance company GE; ConocoPhillips, the third-largest integrated energy company in the U.S.; NRG Energy, owner and operator of one of the largest power generation portfolios in the nation; and ITV, the venture capital arm of leading Japanese trading group ITOCHU which has also entered into a strategic partnership with Hara to serve clients in Japan. The funding supports Hara’s global focus as an industry leader and is a testament to the adoption, comprehensiveness and scalability of the Hara™ Environmental and Energy Management (Hara EEM) solution.

“We have high hopes for our investment in Hara because of its solid commercial traction, strong management team and proven innovation,” said Ricardo Angel, a GE Energy Financial Services venture capital executive also representing Energy Technology Ventures. “Hara’s energy and environmental management solution presents opportunities for collaboration across GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips.”

Hara, which has secured more than 50 leading industry and government customers and demonstrated rapid innovation, was selected as a winner of the GE Ecomagination Challenge’s “Powering the Grid” program. The Ecomagination Challenge demonstrates GE’s global commitment to accelerate the development and deployment of innovative power-grid technologies through open collaboration, while providing financial support to develop and commercialize innovative technologies. Hara’s centralized management and decision making solution will enable the identification of innovative energy reduction and management technologies and capture related best practices, including those of other GE Ecomagination Challenge winners.

Ray Lane Becomes Chairman of the Board

KPCB managing partner Ray Lane joins Hara’s board of directors as chairman, where he will work closely with the leadership to drive the company’s global expansion. Lane brings more than 20 years of experience guiding the world’s top IT companies. Prior to joining KPCB in 2000, Lane served as president and chief operating officer of Oracle Corporation, where he oversaw multi-billion dollar revenue growth and core business expansion.

“Hara is already the established leader in the energy and resource management space and I have been impressed with the dramatic market momentum it has built over the past couple of years,” said Ray Lane. “Effective energy and environmental management is now a business imperative that requires full accountability from companies and their stakeholders across industries.”

“Hara has thrived by meeting the increasing demands of organizations looking to improve their bottom line by better managing their energy and resource consumption, and we continue to see tremendous growth opportunity in the market,” said Amit Chatterjee, CEO and founder, Hara. “Hara is thrilled to partner with industry and energy leaders who share our vision, and with Ray Lane’s technological, organizational and market insight, we will focus on continuing to aggressively scale our business in the U.S. and beyond.”
http://www.hara.com

Environmental and Energy Management Software Provider Hara raises funds

Hara, the fastest growing provider of on-demand environmental and energy management software, today announced it has secured $14 Million in Series B funding. JAFCO Ventures led the round, bringing deep experience and strong relationships in the Asian markets, with participation from Nth Power, focused on the growing sector of energy technology, and existing investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). The funding, which brings total investment to date in Hara to $20 Million, will allow Hara to accelerate its global go-to-market and product innovation strategies in response to growing market demand for its environmental and energy management solution.

“We have been very impressed with the team at Hara and the amount of success that they have demonstrated in a very short period of time,” said Tom Mawhinney, General Partner with JAFCO Ventures and new member of Hara’s board. “Our market research indicates that the Hara solution and core competencies are highly relevant in global markets, and we are confident we can help the company as it expands beyond North America and into the Asia markets.”

“Hara offers a unique solution that provides enterprises a holistic way of prioritizing and implementing energy and natural resource conservation strategies,” said Rodrigo Prudencio, Partner, Nth Power. “Having invested in leading energy technologies for more than ten years, Nth Power believes Hara stands ready to enable a new business process that will become standard in energy and resource intensive organizations around the world.”

In keeping with Hara’s commitment to rapid product innovation, this month also marks the latest and third release of Hara’s flagship on-demand solution, the Hara Environmental and Energy Management (EEM) Fall 2009 Release. The new release provides rich and comprehensive functionality for organizations to manage energy and natural resources as an integrated, end-to-end business process. The solution also helps organizations share and leverage best practices across stakeholders, and enables companies across the value chain to adhere to Walmart’s recently introduced supplier sustainability standards.

“Hara’s vision and solution footprint extends far beyond carbon accounting, enabling companies to holistically monitor and manage their natural resource consumption and environmental impact. The company has exceeded our expectations to date, with overwhelmingly positive response from customers and the broader market,” said Ted Schlein, Managing Partner, KPCB. “We firmly believe that Hara will continue to lead the pack in the environmental and energy management space.”

“Hara is seeing strong and accelerating market demand for environmental and energy management solutions, across industries and geographies,” said Amit Chatterjee, CEO and co-founder of Hara. “New investments from JAFCO and Nth Power, with continued support from KPCB, will enable Hara to continue to deliver customer value, maintain our rapid product innovation pace, and accelerate the global growth of our business.”

Vestas ramps up Services teams, 150 new jobs

Vestas announced the opening of a brand new office in Randers, Denmark, to host its Spare Parts & Repair teams. Furthermore, locations for the leadership team are also being set up in Bristol, UK, together with sections of engineering, customer service and platform management. In Q4 2009, a gearbox service centre will open in Spain, and in Q1 2010, a second one will follow in Colorado, USA.

Since January 2009, Vestas has had a dedicated organisation for servicing its customers. Today, Vestas Spare Parts & Repair has a staff of 230, with the vast majority located in Randers, Denmark. By the end of 2010, an additional 150 people will have joined the Vestas Spare Parts & Repair.

"We are making these radical changes and large investments so that we can further improve the customer experience. These developments mark the continued focus on bringing service to world-class standards," Phil Jones, President of Vestas Spare Parts & Repair explains.

The entire warehouse and distribution network in Spare Parts & Repair will service the seven Vestas Sales Business Units, and the objectives are to be consolidated into one global, world-class network in 2010.