Utility startup Copper Labs raises $2M

BOULDER — Copper Labs Inc., a startup developing real-time utility monitoring devices, raised just under $2 million in seed funding.

The Boulder-based company raised $1,999,998 out of its $2.5 million fundraising goal from nine investors in an all-equity deal, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is the company’s first funding reported to the SEC.

In a concurrent press release, the company said Austin, Texas-based Moonshots Capital LP led the round, with additional investments from Houston-based Blue Bear Capital, Austin-based firms Bull Creek Capital and Capital Factory and Golden-based Service Provider Capital LLC.

Copper Labs produces a wireless monitor for electric, gas and water meters, reducing the need for utility companies to send employees to read meters monthly in person or collect readings from short-wave signals.

In an interview, Copper Labs CEO Dan Forman said the company’s meters can provide real-time data for utility companies to monitor their grids for outages, and can save them and customers money by helping curb usage during peak use hours.

“(The utility) could simply ask the consumer and try to appeal to their sense of doing what’s good for the grid, both from a cost perspective and environmental friendly perspective,” he said, adding that utility companies could also offer cash incentives or bill credits for reducing use during periods of high demand.

Copper Labs started selling meters directly to utility companies earlier this year after a three-year beta test program.

Forman said the company has a total of about $3.1 million in financing from previous grants and private fundraisers. The funds will be used for product development, and to hire additional engineers and sales representatives onto the company’s staff of five full-time employees.