Stem, a behind-the-meter energy storage startup that raised hundreds of millions, is up for sale, according to reports in SparkSpread.
The company has been focused on commercial and industrial customers and developed 400 MWh of battery storage at some 1,000 of sites along with a a pipeline of 3 GWh, according to reports.
Morgan Stanley and Greentech Capital Advisors are the sell-side advisors in the sale process, “for which indicative bids were due recently,” according to the report.
Stem, originally named Powergetics, started out as an inverter technology company in 2012, and moved into behind-the-meter energy storage and management. Eventually Stem combined energy storage with analytics to keep demand charges in check for the customer. The company began tossing around the term “AI” recently.
The CTO of Stem is Larsh Johnson, formerly of Siemens Digital Grid. He joined Siemens via the acquisition of eMeter.
Stem had laid off workers at the end of April.
Stem had raised much more than $100 million in funds to finance distributed energy storage from sources including B Asset Manager, a New York City-based investment adviser in the insurance industry. Stem has also received venture funding from Activate Capital, Angeleno Group, BNP Paribas, Constellation Technology Ventures, Iberdrola (Inversiones Financieras Perseo), GE Ventures, Magnesium Capital, Mithril Capital Management, Mitsui & Co. LTD., Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, RWE Supply & Trading, Temasek, and Total Energy Ventures. Its first $5 million project financing fund to install energy storage systems was backed by Clean Feet Investors.
John Carrington, CEO of Stem, has a connection to the solar industry. He came late into thin-film solar company, Miasole, and engineered its sale to Hanergy.
Miasole was shuttered by Hanergy late last year, as reported in pv magazine.
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Editors note Jan 28 4 p.m.: We deleted mention of the “shift to software and partnerships” at the request of Stem, which claimed it had not made that pivot, contrary to some press reports.
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Eric Wesoff is back with the industry scoops!
Your footnote was interesting. I just received an email from Stem inviting me to a partnership discussion.