Iberdrola, GE Ventures joined Series A investor Angeleno Group in committing financing a $15 million Series B financing round for an energy-saving storage company, called Stem, Inc.

Founded in 2009, Stem's proprietary data analytics and intelligent energy storage system enables businesses to reduce their electricity expenses without changing day-to-day operations. The Stem system offers an autonomous, real-time decision engine that alternates between battery power and grid power to optimize energy costs.

According to the latest report by Lux Research, the global grid storage market will grow nearly nine-fold to  $10.4 billion  in 2017. With its new funds, Stem will have the opportunity to increase energy storage production to meet this untapped and rapidly growing market, expand its offerings to new customers and accelerate sales. 

"We are very excited to collaborate with companies that are changing - and shaping - the future of energy," said Diego Diaz, Head of Iberdrola´s Corporate Venture Capital program. "Stem's energy storage solution has already provided very promising results in improving the energy efficiency of its customers while helping at integrating renewable energy in the grid."

Stem's customers come from a range of industries including manufacturing, retail, services, and hospitality. The Series B funds will enable expansion to new commercial and industrial sectors and geographies primed to benefit from the cost savings associated with advanced energy storage systems.

"Stem is a company to keep an eye on as their combination of sophisticated predictive analytics and machine learning applied to energy storage will provide cost savings for industrial customers and businesses," said Colleen Calhoun, Senior Executive Director, GE Ventures-Energy. "We look to invest in and partner with companies creating cutting edge technologies that can improve energy productivity and efficiency and Stem has been a leader in helping transform the economics of energy consumption without disrupting the way people use electricity."

"We are pleased to announce this round of funding, validating our early success in developing and commercializing our energy storage and data analytics system," said Salim Khan, CEO of Stem. "The support of these world class investors has positioned Stem as the leading solutions provider for the rapidly growing energy storage market."

The capital raise comes on the heels of another major milestone - the announcement of Stem Zero, a first-of-its kind project finance offering that Stem developed in partnership with Clean Feet Investors. Stem Zero enables customers to capture the benefits of onsite energy storage and generate immediate energy bill savings with a fixed, low monthly payment and no upfront cost.