Clean energy startup Orkestra secures $2 million in Seed Funding led by Tidal Ventures
Orkestra has secured Seed funding from lead investor Tidal Ventures to revolutionise the energy industry with their game-changing platform that enables critical decision-making throughout the lifecycle of renewable energy projects. The round was supported by Rampersand, Impact Ventures, Luxem, and climate tech specialists like Phil Blythe, Danin Kahn, Oliver Hartley, and Andrew Rogers.
The clean energy industry is experiencing rapid growth, marked by a massive investment shift projected to exceed $2 trillion globally by 2030. Bloomberg declared that the energy sector must collectively deploy five times more wind power, three times more solar energy, and a staggering twenty-six times more batteries annually until 2030 to meet basic clean energy targets.
The magnitude of this opportunity is immense, and the race to meet these ambitious climate goals will largely depend on innovation from industry disruptors like Orkestra that dramatically improve the productivity and scalability of new energy projects.
With its unwavering dedication to sustainability and global impact, Orkestra continues to empower the energy industry with essential tools that facilitate easy, fast, and accurate decision-making for solar and battery projects and innovative financing and energy service offerings targeting the commercial and industrial sectors.
Climate tech specialist Phil Blythe reflects on his time advising the Orkestra team for close to two years by saying,
“Orkestra is carving out a new category of high-performance tools that makes developing commercial-scale renewable energy projects more accessible for energy providers and solar installers while also identifying more profitable projects for businesses that incorporate batteries, virtual power plants, project finance, and innovation in business models. The team has are lent less focus on enabling new energy technology and services providers to work smarter and faster and are now expanding their operations overseas. This ultimately means lower project costs for businesses and the dramatic acceleration renewable energy deployment worldwide required to meet global carbon goals”.
Tidal Ventures’ continued participation in Orkestra’s last two funding rounds underscores their unwavering confidence in the team’s potential to answer the call for innovative and transformative technology within the energy industry.General Partner Wendell Keuneman said,
“We’ve supported Orkestra since pre-seed and firmly believe that their technology and team will continue to have an outsized impact on the clean energy sector. We’re excited to continue our partnership with Chris, James, and Michael, working together to expand their AI-powered, new energy feasibility modelling technology to unlock the much-needed rollout and transition to renewable energy both in Australia and in the near future, globally”.
Orkestra has proved they can build world-class technology their customers love and deliver real-world impact by unlocking global clean energy solutions for businesses. Their popularity across a diverse customer base, from small solar enterprises to the largest energy companies in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, continues to soar, marked by a 225% increase in revenue since January. Notably, they’ve become an integral tool for nearly every Tier 1 and Tier 2 energy company and commercial and industrial-focused solar installer in Australia.
Eddie Springer, the Founder and Director of Springer Solar, a leading Australian solar installer, highlights the platform’s impact:
“Orkestra has enabled us to fill a void in our ability to accurately provide feasibility studies for commercial solar and battery projects. Not only is it quick and easy to use, but Orkestra provides excellent analysis and sales proposals for our customers, most taking less than 30 minutes. The presentation quality and information we can quickly display for our clients is second to none. Coupled with the user-friendly platform, we have been able to upskill our entire team capability in providing in-depth feasibility analyses, even delving into more complex projects, including virtual power plants.Our sales team and business development managers are now well-equipped toengage in highly detailed assessments. We now respond faster with more accurate and detailed information; Orkestra has been a true game changer for our business.”
To continue innovating for their current and prospective customers, the team has earmarked the funding to fuel their global expansion initiatives, the development of innovative product features, and the execution of strategic growth plans.
“We’re stoked that Orkestra has become Australia’s leading feasibility and sales software provider for commercial and industrial new energy projects. With the successful completion of our Seed round, we’re ready to expand into global markets and unveil our exciting new product, currently in stealth mode. As we progress towards our Series A funding, our primary emphasis will be on optimising our software’s capabilities to streamline and expedite our customers’ processes,” says James Allston, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Orkestra.
Established in 2020, Orkestra is a leading software provider with a strong focus on sustainability and global impact. They have quickly gained a significant marketshare and have become instrumental in developing the Australian commercial and industrial new energy sector. Orkestra’s cloud-based software has become the industry standard for energy feasibility assessment, revolutionising the landscape for commercial and industrial solar, battery, electric vehicle (EV) charger projects, and electricity tariff analysis.
Their comprehensive software empowers energy teams to manage projects from start to finish, having successfully modelled over2,500 projects in 2023 alone. Positioned as the intelligence backbone for clean energy projects worldwide, Orkestra is dedicated to enabling the energy sector to achieve Net Zero emissions, aiming to become the guiding force for all energy-related decisions. Founded by experts James Allston, Chris Cooper, and Michael Jurasovic, Orkestra combines domain expertise with mathematics and data science to provide advanced modelling capabilities driven by a solid commitment to data-driven decision-making and advancing global climate goals.
