WaterSmart® Closes $4.5M Series A

The Westly Group leads with Physic, DFJ, and Apsara Participating

SAN FRANCISCO--()--WaterSmart Software, the leading customer engagement solutions company for water utilities to educate customers on conservation, today announced the close of a $4.5M Series A led by The Westly Group. Also participating in the round were Physic Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), and Apsara Capital.

“This infusion of capital will help WaterSmart build on the success of the last year and bring our cloud-based customer engagement software to more water utilities across the country,” said Peter Yolles, Founder and CEO of WaterSmart.

WaterSmart provides cloud-based software to help water utilities engage their residential customers and make personalized recommendations on how to conserve water. WaterSmart’s technology has been proven to increase customer engagement by three times while also reducing residential water demand by as much as 5% in just 6 months.

The Company has announced contracts with utilities throughout California, Colorado and Texas including East Bay MUD, Irvine Ranch Water District, and the Cities of Sacramento, Davis and Newport Beach.

"WaterSmart has changed how we build relationships with our customers," said Fiona Sanchez of Irvine Ranch Water District. "Every conservation manager in the country will be surprised how easy it is to be so much more effective using WaterSmart."

WaterSmart uses behavioral science techniques to increase customer engagement, elevate consumer interest in saving water and money, and increase participation in utility-sponsored efficiency programs. WaterSmart’s enterprise product includes an analytics tool, which allows utility managers to view how their customers use water, track program performance and identify where efficiencies can be generated.

“WaterSmart has the potential to revolutionize how the entire water industry engages and educates its customers,” said Steve Westly, Founder of The Westly Group. “WaterSmart’s impressive traction and enthusiastic customer base bode well for rapid growth in the months and years to come.”

This is the third round of funding WaterSmart has announced. The Company, incubated by Menlo Incubator, also raised $900,000 in 2011 from Menlo Incubator, Sand Hill Angels, DFJ, and Physic Ventures; and $1.5M in 2012 from the same investors plus Apsara Capital. WaterSmart plans to use the Series A funds to expand its sales and marketing teams and bring its customer engagement platform to water utilities throughout North America.

Steve Westly will join the Board of Directors of WaterSmart, which already includes Andy Donner from Physic Ventures, Gary Kremen, founder of Clean Power Finance and Match.com, Henri Lambert of Apsara Capital, and Peter Yolles, WaterSmart’s Founder and CEO.

About WaterSmart Software
WaterSmart® Software helps improve water utilities’ conservation outreach to help their customers save water and money. WaterSmart’s core technology is a turn-key, cloud-based platform that integrates water utility metering and billing information. WaterSmart deploys sophisticated analytics and behavioral science tools to municipal water suppliers in cloud-based software. WaterSmart uses the power of social norms to improve customer engagement, elevate consumer interest in saving water and money, and increase participation in utility-sponsored efficiency programs. The Company won Imagine H2O’s water efficiency prize in 2010 and recently was named an Artemis Top 50 Water Company. WaterSmart’s solution is available to water suppliers throughout the U.S. and Canada and can be deployed in less than a month.

About The Westly Group
The Westly Group is dedicated to building companies that will solve the world’s most pressing problems. From next generation electric vehicles to healthy school meals, we invest in exceptional teams scaling transformative technologies and business models. We believe in the power of the passionate entrepreneur—whether sitting in a modern office tower or a Silicon Valley garage—to change the world.

About Physic Ventures
Physic Ventures provides capital and expertise to science-based, consumer-driven health and sustainable living companies. WaterSmart joins a number of innovative sustainability companies in the Physic portfolio, including EnergyHub, a supplier of residential energy efficiency solutions, Gazelle, the leader reCommerce company, and Recyclebank, the leading environmental social platform for rewarding green actions.

About Draper Fisher Jurvetson
DFJ is a venture capital firm that partners with extraordinary entrepreneurs who set out to change the world. Since 1985, DFJ and the DFJ Global Network have had $7B committed to their funds and have managed more than 400 portfolio investments, including AdMob, Baidu, Box, Skype, Hotmail, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, Twitter, Tumblr and Yammer. DFJ works with companies at seed, early and growth stages, with the goal of creating iconic and lasting businesses. DFJ pioneers investing in emerging markets including consumer and enterprise information technology, digital media, and disruptive technologies. The DFJ Global Network is a federation of 16 independent venture funds operating on four continents that cooperate on investment diligence and co-investing.

About Apsara Capital
Apsara Capital LLP is a family office based in London.

About Menlo Incubator
Menlo Incubator is a Bay Area new business incubator focusing on emerging growth Companies. Menlo Incubator was founded by Steve Bennet (a.k.a. “Professor VC”) and Gary Kremen (founder of Match.com, Clean Power Finance, Sociogramics and other companies).

About Sand Hill Angels
Sand Hill Angels is a group of Silicon Valley accredited investors who are passionate about entrepreneurship and the commercialization of disruptive new technologies, with early stage investments in promising start-ups. With experience spanning all aspects of growing successful companies -- from the formative stage through management of multi-billion dollar enterprises -- Sand Hill Angels seeks to add value, provide expertise and assistance to these fledging enterprises. The investment focus includes Internet, Mobile Information Technology, Clean Tech, Consumer, and Life Sciences. Sand Hill Angels works openly and collaboratively with venture capital funds, angel organizations, and the Bay Area ecosystem to foster the growth of technology start-ups.

Contacts

WaterSmart Software
Barbara Franzoia, 415-291-0243
barbara@watersmartsoftware.com

Release Summary

WaterSmart® closes $4.5M Series A funding led by The Westly Group. Cloud-based customer engagement software for water utilities educates customers on conservation.

Contacts

WaterSmart Software
Barbara Franzoia, 415-291-0243
barbara@watersmartsoftware.com