Operant Networks raises $3.8M in funding led by Constellation Technology Ventures

Santa Rosa, CA – Operant Networks is setting the standard for secure machine-to-machine communications. Today at RE+, the largest and most comprehensive event in North America for the clean energy industry, Operant announced it raised a $3.8M round of seed-funding led by Constellation Technology Ventures, with participation from Thin Line Capital and Marin Sonoma Impact Ventures. This investment builds upon Operant’s commercial success, having already deployed their networking and cybersecurity solutions to over 3GW of critical infrastructure in the energy sector.

Responding to the essential fight against climate change, ‘Electrify Everything’ represents the transition to a decentralized and highly distributed electric grid, comprised of solar, wind, batteries, and EV charging. This dispersive shift creates massive networking complexity and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.  Due the sheer volume of devices often communicating over the internet, traditional approaches are not able to address the requirements with affordable technical staffing levels.

Operant’s founders leveraged decades of experience building category-defining products in both the solar and telecommunications fields. The company chose to target this emerging challenge, facilitating a smooth transition to renewables while defending our national security. Others are beginning to take notice. Last year a report published by the U.S. Department of Energy, referred to Operant’s core technology as potentially “game-changing” in the category of cybersecurity solutions enabling the transition to a carbon-free electric grid.

Constellation Energy, Operant’s lead investors and the nation’s largest provider of clean energy, has been working closely with Operant. “Backed by their extensive industry experience and market expertise, Operant Networks is poised to play a key role in advancing resilient communications, networking and cybersecurity in an evolving energy landscape,” said Jorge Acevedo, SVP, Commercialization & Development, Constellation. “We look forward to our collaboration with the Operant team as they advance their mission and develop their product offerings.”

Expert at leading customer facing teams at multiple renewable energy companies, Operant Networks CEO, Keith Rose, is positioning the company to become the communications standard for the industry. “Our team has been involved in bringing groundbreaking products to the solar industry for over a decade. With Operant, not only are we trying to further advance the industry with innovative technology, but we also feel a strong sense of duty to align stakeholders in protecting the grid from the growing threat of cyber-attacks.”

Aaron Fyke, Managing Director of Thin Line Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm focusing on energy and sustainability, participated in Operant’s funding round stating, “We are extremely excited to partner with Operant Networks. The electricity grid is changing and needs to accommodate the millions of solar, energy storage, and EV charger installations which will soon be commonplace on the grid.  We see Operant Networks as the company which can provide the communications and network security required for this transformation."

Though Operant views the energy sector as core to their business and a beachhead market, it is not the end game. “We hear similar pain-points from customers connecting to industrial field equipment, regardless of asset type or industry. Traditional solutions force customers to choose between reliability, security, and cost. The inevitable result is poorly performing projects, and inflated network and cyber response teams struggling to keep up.”  states Rose.

Operant addresses these issues with their integrated networking and cybersecurity software, by reducing both complexity and cost. Modernization trends in operational technology (OT) systems include the deployment of sensors and IoT-like devices to collect data and perform machine learning. With their technology and experience, the team at Operant is confident in their ability to assist customers like Constellation in achieving their operational goals, without having to make sacrifices.

Operant will be exhibiting their solutions at the RE+ event in Anaheim, CA Sept 20-22 at booth number 2285.

For more information on Operant: [email protected]