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Up is down. Unless you’re a company, at least.
When it comes to building smart cities, the best way to access cash seems to be increasingly through corporate funding.
That’s according to an analysis from Mercom Capital. The Texas-based financial services group released its overview of energy storage and smart grid funding, showing that funding for smart grids has increased year over year from Q1 2022, from $658 million to $1.3 billion—but dropped from the $1.9 billion raised in Q4 2022.
The biggest drop was seen in venture capital funding. Smart grid VC investment declined 66% from Q4 2022, from $846 million last year to $280 million. YoY VC funding dropped 14%, from $327 million in Q1 2022.
It was a different story for corporate funding. While funding declined to $1.1 billion in Q1 2023 from Q4 2022’s $1.9 billion, it was a sizable increase year over year from Q1 2022’s $331 million.
Smart cities are increasingly important to the tech industry. IT Brew reported on the intersection of smart cities and tech jobs earlier in April, showing that the crossover between smart city capabilities and higher levels of tech employment is real and powering local economies.
Tech capital funders are taking notice—one grid at a time.—EH