Jacobs Engineering takes minority stake in Microgrid Labs

BOULDER — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: J), a Dallas-based professional-services company, has signed an agreement to take a minority stake in Boulder-based Microgrid Labs Inc.

Terms of the deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions, were not disclosed.

Microgrid Labs is a consulting and software company that specializes in commercial fleet electrification and microgrids. The company has developed EVOPT, a Software-as-a-Service platform to model, simulate and optimize electric-vehicle fleets, charging infrastructure and energy infrastructure.

Jacobs will use the investment and strategic relationship to leverage Microgrid Labs’ technology  to expand upon its own offerings in the vehicle-electrification space.

“This transaction offers both immediate and long-term benefits for Jacobs’ green transportation clients,” Jacobs executive vice president Patrick Hill said in a prepared statement. “In delivering world-class solutions, our work is underpinned by strategic, forward-looking advisory within the rapidly evolving digital and technology landscape.”

More than 250 million highway-registered vehicles operate in the U.S, Jacobs said in a press release, with fleet operators facing a fragmented electrification process spread across consultants, software vendors and equipment manufacturers. 

“Fleet electrification is complex and expensive,” said Microgrid Labs co-founder and CEO Narayanan Sankar. “Our data driven approach and analytics tools help fleet operators derive the right balance of vehicle battery size, charging infrastructure and operational constraints.”

A post on Microgrid Labs’ LinkedIn page referenced the Jacobs transaction: “Thank you, Jacobs, as we work toward accelerating the transition to a zero emission future. This investment and strategic relationship will play a key role in Mircogrid Labs’ mission to help fleet operators minimize the cost and take the complexity out of fleet electrification.”

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