Edison DC Systems announced today that it has closed a $1.3 million Series A round of funding. The investment is led by Chicago, IL impact venture fund Energy Foundry and includes participation from a number of high net worth individual investors from Illinois, New York and Wisconsin. The funds will be channeled into accelerating the company's development of direct current uninterruptible power systems (DC-UPS) for data centers. Co-Founded by John Meinecke and Mitch Nelson, Edison DC Systems significantly reduces energy loss from Meter to Motherboard in cloud compute infrastructure. It enables data centers to eliminate many unnecessary steps in delivering power from the utility to the servers that consume the power.
According to Edison DC Systems CEO John Meinecke, 'The leading and most challenging expense to control for cloud compute operators is their monthly utility bill. By running direct current from our DC-UPS to the server racks, Edison DC Systems ensures that far more power gets to the motherboard, where the work is done. Power is not wasted in unneeded steps in the distribution power path as is typical in current systems.'
Energy Foundry's CEO and Managing Director Jason Blumberg says that his firm made an investment in Edison DC Systems because of the team's deep domain expertise in implementing large scale direct current power distribution systems. Blumberg stated that 'in addition to addressing the rapidly expanding data center market we also view this technology as a path to commercializing DC microgrids; allowing for more efficient collection and distribution of renewable energy'.
Energy Foundry is an impact venture capital firm with a $25 million fund. Backed by ComED and Ameren Illinois, the fund developed through 2011 legislation that supported grid modernization and clean/green technology practices in energy.
Edison DC Systems engineering team is made up of former civilian defense contractors, who were involved in developing and deploying the power controls and equipment for some of largest direct current systems in operation. Although the specific architecture of what is being developed for data centers does not overlap with ship designs, many of the same rules and lessons learned in safely and reliably implementing these systems apply.
The dramatic leap in efficiency cloud compute demands can only come from a new system level approach that applies new thinking and tools in getting from the Meter down to the Motherboard.
About Edison DC Systems: EDCS is developing a power conversion system for use by data centers that takes AC (alternating current) and converts it to DC (direct current) to offer a more efficient power distribution architecture. There will be substantial savings for cloud scale energy users. The system creates a unique, clean, uninterruptable power supply.
To find out more information about EDCS and to join the conversation about direct current visit us online at:
Website: http://www.edisondcs.com
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/EdisonDcSystems
Twitter: @edisondcsystems
About Energy Foundry:
Energy Foundry is an early-stage impact venture capital fund that forges revolutionary energy-tech companies. Its model pairs investment capital with the integrated support and expertise that early stage energy-tech companies need to achieve critical growth. Energy Foundry adds value beyond investment dollars: from utility Testbeds to an experienced, multi-talented advisor network, advice on government funding to foundational partnerships for operational growth, the firm support entrepreneurs to make what they do even better.