Dive Brief:
- Data platform Paces, which helps manage and scale clean energy infrastructure projects, said Wednesday it scored $11 million in its Series A funding round. The funding is spearheaded by venture capital firm Navitas Capital and also backed by Suffolk Technologies, MCJ Collective and other existing investors, per the company.
- The company said the new financing will help Paces improve its software platform, boost its data intelligence and make certain data tools more available throughout the United States.
- The company’s platform assists green developers in de-risking and accelerating the process of site selection for clean energy projects and performs due diligence assessments by rapidly processing and analyzing relevant information.
Dive Insight:
Paces’ data platform provides users with tools such as “Project Search” and a “Permitting Predictor” that collect various forms of data, including environmental data, energy grid data, permitting data and zoning data. The platform then uses artificial intelligence to analyze this information and help clean energy developers make informed decisions when choosing viable sites for green projects.
The Permitting Predictor, in particular, helps customers “assess risk in minutes” by analyzing data from a myriad of sources and compiling concise summaries, steering them away from locations or sites that have a high permitting risk. Such risks can derail projects and also incur financial losses, according to Paces.
The new funding seeks to expand the Permitting Predictor tool across different locations in the U.S. and boost its data intelligence capabilities, the company said in a release.
Paces co-founder and CEO James McWalter said the Series A funding will “fuel” the company’s growth and impact.
“Paces is committed to maximizing the climate benefits of every piece of land,” McWalter said in the release. “By expanding our capabilities to accelerate additional components of the due diligence process and serving new sectors like EV charging and data centers, we’re taking a significant step towards realizing this goal.”
