SenseLabs

Sense Labs (‘Sense’) is a residential energy data company with unique load disaggregation software, enabling users to: track and better understand their home energy usage; reduce energy consumption; and participate in demand response programmes. Once installed on a customer’s smart electrical meter, consumers can use an app to track their energy consumption, identify which appliances are “energy hogs”, and adapt their habits to shrink their energy costs and carbon footprint.

Sense’s software also acts as a gateway for participation in demand response programs, an essential component for enabling greater grid penetration of renewables, with participating households scheduling energy-intensive activities outside peak hours and thereby reducing the need for carbon intensive peaker plants. In addition, Sense’s software can detect changes outside the home at the grid edge (e.g., trees touching distribution wires, transformer failures) that enable utilities to improve safety and reduce costs.

• Technology commercialization – Sense is in the process of getting installed on 150,000 homes in the third quarter of 2024 and currently has commitments in place to install >3.3m smart meters that utilize Sense software on US and Canadian utilities over the next few years. Sense’s pipeline of utility customers that are in active discussions totals more than 20m meters.
• Climate impact – At year end 2023 Sense’s software was installed in over 100,000 homes across the US and Canada, resulting in 10-20% reduction in annual energy usage for consumers using the application, and increasing the flexibility of the grid. This has delivered annual energy savings of 73,000 MWh and annual avoided GHG emissions of 24,000 tCO2e.
• Peer recognition – Sense is a pioneer in the AI sector with recognition from CB Insights as one of the world’s 100 most promising AI companies in 2019. Sense has won numerous AI and tech awards since then, including IOT Breakthrough’s Connected Home Company of the Year in 2024.

BlueEarth acted as lead investor in the Series C funding round, helping to catalyze other sources of equity capital for the business. BlueEarth supported the process through sharing due diligence materials with co-investors covering financial & tax, technical, regulatory, impact & ESG, commercial, and legal due diligence. After investment, BlueEarth via its board and board committee participation plays a hands-on role in helping shape Sense’s overall growth strategy including supporting on potential sales introductions, recruiting, KPI setting, and capital formation.

To date, BlueEarth has assisted Sense with various aspects of both its impact and ESG programs including supporting the quantification of the company’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and playing a leading role in driving collaboration amongst co-investors and Sense to align on the climate impact calculation methodology. BlueEarth has worked with Sense’s management to shape the company’s broader sustainability program, identifying priority focus areas including supply chain risk management and DE&I.

“At Sense, we are taking machine learning, data, and consumer facing applications to make the grid smart, help people manage energy in their home, and actively participate in a cleaner and more resilient future”, said Mike Phillips. “BlueEarth already had a lot of knowledge about this industry and their expertise in impact and ESG reporting is helping us identify core focus areas, risks and opportunities, and importantly supporting us in the implementation. We were particularly attracted to BlueEarth’s international network and access mostly in Europe which we see as a real growth opportunity outside our domestic market.”