MA Financial venture capital arm pens $20m deal with energy start-up
MA Financial’s growth ventures business has inked a $20 million raise in energy start-up Upstream.
Upstream, which stores solar energy for ANZ’s bank branches and Beacon Lighting stores, among other companies, will use the proceeds to fit out its clients’ sites with solar photovoltaic panels. The company operates about 15 megawatts of rooftop solar energy and battery storage, but wants to grow this to about 100 MW in three years.
Upstream, a 10-year-old start-up, is operating 15 megawatts of rooftop solar and battery storage.
MA’s investment comes as businesses eye ways to transition to cleaner energy sources in a way that also mitigates soaring costs.
Nathan Begley, Upstream’s chief executive, said the company’s customer model allowed businesses to source lower-cost renewable power because it only paid for what the companies consumed. This runs contrary to the typical method of paying upfront.
“Energy is everything at the moment,” he told The Australian Financial Review.
“We currently have about 400 sites, but our pipeline is about 3000 in the next few years and we need to deliver on this,” said Mr Begley, adding that the company wanted to also use the investment to grow its energy battery storage capabilities.
Upstream counts Michael Masterman, the chief financial officer at Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries, as another investor, Mr Begley says.
The company targets businesses with a physical footprint such as retailers. At ANZ, the bank is unlikely to own the real estate where its bank branch is, but it pays to consume energy at the property. Upstream deploys its solar panels along with the ancillary infrastructure. For ANZ, rather than buying energy from the grid, it purchases energy from Upstream through
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