Efficiency Startup Gets $157 Million to Cut Carbon in Buildings

(Bloomberg) -- A startup that lets building owners cut their carbon footprint without buying expensive equipment has raised $156.5 million from backers including a major real estate services company and one of Europe's largest utilities.

Redaptive Inc. has now raised more than $181 million to date. The latest funding round was led by CarVal Investors LP and also included existing investors CBRE Group Inc., Engie New Ventures, Evergy Ventures and Linse Capital.

Redaptive offers energy-efficiency upgrades for buildings, and installs and owns the equipment such as new lighting or air conditioning systems. Customers can eventually choose to buy the gear or benefit from lower energy bills while directing their capital to other purposes.

The San Francisco-based company targets large businesses with hundreds of offices, and its customers include Iron Mountain Inc. and McKesson Corp. As big corporations increasingly seek to curb their greenhouse-gas emissions, cutting energy use across their real estate portfolios will be a key strategy.

“What we'd like to get to is overseeing the entire utility experience and energy experience for these customers and take them down the glide path to carbon neutrality, while making it economic,” Redaptive Chief Executive Officer Arvin Vohra said in an interview. “We believe that sustainability is economic, and we're out to prove that.”

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