by Verizon Ventures
We recently announced a strategic investment in Fermata Energy, a leader in vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems. We're thrilled to support a company helping to speed the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Verizon Ventures joins Fermata Energy’s $40 million Series A round, led by the Carlyle Group. Other new and existing investors include ClearSky, Skyview Ventures, I Squared Capital, and Waterland Private Equity.
Fermata Energy was founded in 2010 to accelerate adoption of EVs and to help enable faster integration of renewable energy to the electricity grid. Using V2X technologies to connect energy stored in EVs to the power grid will be critical for the grid's transition to renewable energy. The company’s V2X software technology aims to transform electric vehicles into energy-storage assets, making EV ownership more cost effective. This technology can help enable a centralized power infrastructure to load balance, transport and store renewable energy through the EV, mobile device and IoT markets, as well as provide customer reliability.
“The company’s offerings include bidirectional chargers, a cloud-based management software platform, and a system architecture for harvesting renewable energy and storing it in EVs. This technology can help pave the way for V2X microgrids for EVs, which may be implemented and expanded commercially to meet time-sensitive climate targets.”
Fermata Energy’s Proposition
The market for EVs is expanding, while the electric power infrastructure is shifting to renewables. This is made possible by V2X technology, which allows EVs to generate money while parked by supplying energy storage to the power grid.
Fermata Energy sits at the intersection of energy and transportation, two fields that are undergoing decarbonization and large investments in infrastructure and systems. In addition, the company has partnered with OEMs and utilities to help accelerate the V2X market's growth.
Fermata Energy’s Founding Team
The Fermata Energy leadership team has decades of expertise in infrastructure and EV development: founder and CEO David Slutzky founded multiple successful companies in tech and environmental fields over the last 30 years; co-founder and CFO John Wheeler has over 10 years of experience combining investment banking and clean technology; CTO Glenn Skutt co-founded PowerHub Systems, which was later acquired by Fermata Energy; and Software Development Director Flint O'Brien has more than 30 years of experience as a software architect and developer.
Verizon Ventures and Fermata Energy
Both 5G and mobile edge compute are integral to the future of managing and tracking distributed clean energy.
In fact, in July 2021, as part of their participation in the 5G Studio, a collaboration between Verizon and Newlab, Fermata Energy's V2X 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.
Verizon Ventures is excited to support Fermata Energy's team and mission as they help to accelerate the adoption of EVs and transform renewable energy on the grid.
