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Venture Capital News: EnTouch Controls Inks $8M

2016-02-16
RICHARDSON, TX, EnTouch Controls, the market-leading provider of facility asset and energy management intelligence announced today that it has completed their Series C Financing.
The $8 million dollar round of financing was led by Egis Capital Partners and included new investors Traverse Venture Partners, Aster Capital and Calvert Investments along with existing investors SJF Ventures and Trailblazer Capital. The financing will allow EnTouch to expand its sales and marketing team and capitalize on its leadership position in the Commercial Internet of Things (IoT) market.

The financing comes on the heels of a record year for the company as it tripled orders, expanded its footprint of connected facilities to over 4,000 locations, and added enhanced energy and facility management features that support Demand Response (DR), Peak Energy Management (PEM), and Food Safety Reporting and Monitoring. In addition, the company recently signed strategic partnership agreements with EnerNOC and Interface Security Systems.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) estimates that US businesses spend over $20 billion annually on energy and that lowering energy costs by 10 percent can increase profit margins by as much as 4 percent. The EnTouch 360 facilities asset and energy intelligence platform assists multi-site companies in achieving those benefits by leveraging cloud-based analytics and energy management software coupled with wireless control systems. EnTouch 360 enables businesses to achieve sustained reductions in energy, maintenance, and capital spending while realizing a competitive advantage that directly contributes to their bottom line.

'While 2015 was a fantastic year for EnTouch, we see even stronger growth ahead,' said Greg Fasullo, CEO for EnTouch Controls, 'I couldn't be more excited to add such experienced venture partners to our already strong investment team. Our EnTouch 360 platform has evolved into the premier solution for commercial IoT facilities management and this additional investment will enable the company to rapidly accelerate growth and solidify our industry-leading position. '

Robert Chefitz, Managing Partner of EGIS Capital Partners added, 'I am very impressed with the management team and technology platform that has enabled the company to expand to over 4,000 locations. EnTouch is bringing the reality of IoT to energy savings and facilities management, enabling multi-site operators to manage a broad span of operations from a single secure portal. I view the market opportunity for EnTouch as exceptional, a continuation of my experience with other leading SaaS providers including Alarm.com and Protection 1.' As part of the transaction, Robert Chefitz will join the company's board of directors. Martin Aares, Partner and Co-Founder at Traverse Venture Partners and Kevin Deneen, Associate at Aster Capital will also join the company's board of directors as observers.

Dave Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of SJF Ventures and EnTouch board member noted, 'Egis, Traverse, Aster and Calvert bring excellent expertise and connections in the security, real estate, energy and financial sectors. We are excited they have joined SJF and Trailblazer as partners to help the benefits of EnTouch's technology reach many more customers.'

'Multi-location building owners and tenants are increasingly looking to reduce energy costs and drive operational efficiencies yet often lack the necessary internal resources,' said Martin Aares, Partner at Traverse Venture Partners. 'EnTouch solves this problem with an externally managed service that uses data-driven analytics to benchmark and improve facility performance. The company's rapidly growing list of satisfied customers confirms it has developed a winning formula.'

'EnTouch is at a very exciting stage of development, having proven an ability to scale a strong technology backbone and robust service offering to meet the needs of a large and demanding customer base,' said Kevin Deneen, Senior Associate at Aster Capital, a VC firm sponsored by Schneider Electric, Alstom, Solvay and the European Investment Fund. 'We are delighted to invest alongside a strong group of investors, both new and existing. The diverse set of experience and wide industry networks around the table will provide the EnTouch team with additional leverage to capitalize on the growth opportunity in front of them.'

About EnTouch

EnTouch is a technology company that leverages energy intelligence solutions to accurately assess and control energy consumption and expenditure. The company's award winning EnTouch 360 platform provides a dedicated team of energy experts who utilize leading-edge software, best-in-class hardware and predictive or 'targeted' analytics to improve operational efficiencies, significantly reduce energy consumption and maximize energy savings. Nationally recognized for its ongoing commitment to sustainability and their innovative IoT approach, EnTouch supports over 4000 locations in diverse industries including retail, restaurant, grocery, real estate, healthcare, and hospitality.

About Egis Capital Partners

Egis Capital Partners is the leading private equity firm focused on middle-market buyout and late-stage growth investments in the Security & Homeland Defense sector.

Egis Capital Partners target companies in North America with Enterprise Values ranging between $30 million and $200 million that require a total investment between $10 million and $80 million.

About Traverse Venture Partners

Traverse Venture Partners is a new, purpose-built investment platform exclusively focused on accelerating the transition to more productive, flexible and efficient real estate. Building on the successful strategy and track record of CCM Energy, a pioneer in real estate-focused growth capital investing, Traverse acts as both an investor and deployment partner for companies with a proven solution to improve the economic or environmental performance of buildings and the real estate industry.

About Aster Capital

Aster Capital is an international independent venture capital firm that invests from Series A to growth stage in outstanding companies who solve global challenges in the fields of Energy, Advanced Materials, Smart Transportation and IoT. Aster Capital is located in San Francisco, Paris, Beijing and Kadina and has more than $250 million under management in several funds raised from large global corporations (Alstom, Solvay, Schneider Electric) and institutional investors (European Investment Fund). The Aster team has extensive experience in supporting high growth companies by leveraging its networks and opening partnership opportunities with its corporate sponsors. Since its launch in 2000, Aster Capital has invested in more than 40 innovative companies, including Solairedirect (acquired by Engie in 2015), Connectblue (acquired by u-blox in 2014), and CPower (acquired by Constellation Energy).

About Calvert Investments

Calvert Investments is a global leader in Responsible Investing. Calvert's mission is to deliver superior long-term performance to Calvert's clients and enable them to achieve positive impact. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Calvert Investments had more than $12.2 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2015.

About SJF Ventures

SJF Ventures is a growth equity fund founded in 1999 with offices in Durham, NC, New York and San Francisco. SJF invests in high-growth companies like EnTouch Controls that are creating a healthier, smarter and cleaner future. SJF Ventures' mission is to catalyze the development of highly successful businesses driving lasting, positive changes.

About Trailblazer Capital

Trailblazer Capital is a venture capital firm specializing in investments in seed/start-ups, early stage and growth capital. It also invests in accelerators. The firm specializes in bridge financing. The firm does not invest in life science, biotechnology, medical device, real estate, and natural resource sectors. Trailblazer Capital prefers to invest in materials, energy, business software and services companies, telecommunications and mobility equipment and software, education services, gaming technology, capital-efficient green technology, systems software, health care software and services, Internet (web-based) services, and application software and consumer electronics.
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