New CEO and Fresh Round of Financing for Powerit Solutions

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Powerit Solutions, an international cleantech company that plugs energy-intensive businesses into the smart grid, today announced two actions that will fuel the firm’s continued growth and development.

“And we think Spara’s flexible technology will integrate well with partner services and products. That will help build Powerit’s value.”

Effective March 7, 2011, Matthew J. Schiltz, a seasoned chief executive, will serve as group CEO of Powerit Solutions. He will lead Powerit’s international operations and take a seat on the company’s board. Concurrent with his arrival, the firm has secured an additional $5 million round of investor funding.

“Sometimes the stars really do align,” says Claes Olsson, chairman of the Powerit Solutions board of directors. “This fresh infusion of capital, coupled with Matt’s hiring, will launch a new era. We have ambitious plans under way on several fronts, and now we have bolstered our resources and leadership expertise, better preparing us to enter into new partnerships and channels and move even more deeply into the industrial and commercial energy management sectors.”

Matthew “Matt” Schiltz to Serve as Group CEO

Schiltz has served as president and CEO or COO for five highly successful technology companies since 1989. His track record in building high-growth technology companies encompasses all aspects of leading, building, growing, funding, and managing. His leadership helped each of his past five companies earn a spot on the Inc. 500 and/or Fast 50 lists due to their explosive growth. At Powerit Solutions, Schiltz will take the company’s proven technology and traction to scale.

Says Schiltz about his new position, “I’m excited to be leading Powerit Solutions—a dynamic, growing cleantech firm that is well out of the gate. Powerit’s proven energy management technology is producing terrific results for customers and the company has clear momentum. Armed with a leading solution in the growing smart grid sector, Powerit is very well positioned and we see great potential for accelerating growth even further.”

Most recently, Schiltz was president and CEO of DocuSign. Recruited by the board in 2007, he transformed the start-up into a market leader in electronic signatures. He closed three rounds of financing that totaled over $25 million, ran strategic business development relationships with leading corporations like Microsoft and Salesforce.com, and grew shareholder value by more than 900 percent.

New Round of Financing Brings Fresh Capital

Powerit Solutions has also just completed a new round of financing with a $5 million investment from five funds. Black Coral Capital, a fund focused on the cleantech sector, led the round as a new investor; the other four were existing investors from prior rounds.

The investment will finance Powerit’s plans to scale these initiatives:

Extend the company’s reach in key vertical manufacturing sectors with its Spara energy management technology.
Develop partnerships with OEMs and energy services firms that want to use Spara technology to connect their customers to the smart grid.
Add channel partners in North America and internationally.

"Powerit Solutions’ Spara technology is a valuable tool for smart grid connectivity, as we see in their work with Auto-DR, for example,” says Rob Day of Black Coral Capital. “Unlike a lot of smart grid companies that just have good ideas, Powerit’s ideas have become products that are already producing real benefits from the smart grid—customers are reducing their electricity bills and increasing operational efficiency."

"Powerit is an established leader in energy management, with active installations operating around the world,” Day continues. “And we think Spara’s flexible technology will integrate well with partner services and products. That will help build Powerit’s value."

About Black Coral Capital

Black Coral Capital is a fund investing in the alternative energy/cleantech space. It invests in a wide variety of cleantech arenas, both directly and through funds. Black Coral was formed in late 2008 and is building its presence in North America, with offices in New York, Boston, and Montreal. For more information, visit the Black Coral Capital website.

About Powerit Solutions

Powerit Solutions is a Seattle-based international cleantech company that plugs energy-intensive businesses into the smart grid. Powerit’s Spara technology enables users to automatically increase energy efficiency, cut peak-rate usage, participate in demand response programs, and respond to dynamic pricing advantageously—without compromising quality, production, or comfort. For more information, visit the Powerit Solutions website.

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