Credit: Dreamstime
GE, through its six-month old energy start-up, Current, has acquired Australian tech start-up, Daintree Networks, for $100 million.
Daintree Networks is an enterprise Industrial Internet provider of building controls solutions for commercial facilities.
GE said the acquisition will enable Current to expand its building automation platform and its energy-as-a-service offering to small- and medium-size facilities across the globe through the deployment of Daintree’s open, standards-based wireless control systems.
Today, 90 per cent of the world’s small- to mid-sized buildings do not have building automation systems. Integrating Daintree Networks’ open-standard networked wireless control solution, ControlScope, into Current’s building automation portfolio addresses that problem, according to GE.
The joint solution links data from lighting and HVAC systems directly to Predix, GE’s Industrial Internet software platform – allowing customers to analyse their energy consumption and identify data patterns to increase efficiency and reduce power levels.
Fortune 500 and mid-size enterprises across North America, including Universal Music Group, the Salk Institute, and National Bank of Arizona use Daintree technology to manage more than one million lights, thermostats, and sensors in office, retail and industrial locations, delivering monthly lighting and HVAC energy cost savings of up to 60 per cent.
“By combining Daintree’s open-standard control and sensing technology with GE’s Predix platform, Current’s building automation platform and its energy-as-a-service offerings, we’ll deliver the industry’s first next-generation, scalable cloud-based energy management and facilities optimisation platform for every building type and size,” said Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO of Current, powered by GE.
“Our combined strengths will help customers, big or small, achieve a reduced carbon footprint and increased energy savings, and provide a solution for ecosystem partners to grow.”
The acquisition brings to Current an extensive ecosystem of value-added resellers (VARs), system integrators (SIs) and device partners with long-standing experience in helping enterprises deploy and optimize ControlScope in commercial, retail and industrial environments.
Built to established open protocol standards, Daintree’s ControlScope technology is fully engineered in Australia and can be deployed wirelessly and securely in almost any enterprise ensuring interoperability between products offered by multiple device vendors. To date, Daintree has focused on building its customer base in North America. This acquisition gives it access to the globe.
The acquisition comes just six months after the formation of Current, a first-of-its-kind energy startup within GE. Current integrates GE's LED and onsite power businesses with GE’s industrial strength Predix platform to deliver a cost effective, energy management platform. GE’s Predix platform is open, flexible, and connects multiple third party devices and assets to the Industrial Internet.
“Daintree Networks is a great example of Australian technology innovation at the heart of the Industrial Internet,” said Geoff Culbert, president & CEO, GE Australia & NZ. “The combination of Daintree with Current will be a game-changer in the development of applications that drive productivity and make intelligent buildings a reality. GE has the scale and global reach to turbo charge the growth and adoption of Daintree’s Australian-made technology.”
“Daintree has been in the enterprise Industrial Internet space for a long time, so we are excited to join Current in bringing customers an enhanced lighting and energy management solution that can be applied to a wide range of buildings and workspaces including retail stores, banks and office environments,” said Derek Proudian, CEO of Daintree Networks. “Through this integration, we will help our customers achieve the promise of the Industrial Internet: greater control, lower maintenance costs and increased operational efficiencies.”
On its website, Daintree Networks says the strategic acquisition was a win for both sets of customers on many levels. It added "tremendous technology" to the Current solution footprint, providing the company with an open, standards-based wireless enterprise Industrial Internet solution for energy management and intelligent environment applications.
"Daintree Networks solutions provide an elegant offering to help you reduce energy costs in all of your buildings. 90% per cent of the world’s small-to-mid-sized buildings do not have building automation systems. Together we plan to change that."
The company claims to lead the market in smart building control, sensing, and Enterprise Internet of Things (E-IoT) applications. ControlScope, the company’s open networked wireless solution for lighting and building control, monitoring, and optimisation, reduces energy and operating costs, improves the occupant experience, increases business productivity and scales to manage a large portfolio of buildings, according to Daintree Networks. It also describes itself as a "channel-friendly" company.
Daintree Networks is now headquartered in the US, with an R&D facility in Australia. Upon completion of the acquisition, Current will integrate Daintree’s employees in Australia, California and Massachusetts into its structure.
KEY TAKEAWAYS ON THE DEAL
- Combined offering brings benefits of building automation systems to world’s small- to midsized buildings, lowering energy use and cost, while reducing environmental footprint.
- The acquisition will deliver open, standards-based wireless enterprise Industrial Internet solution for energy management and intelligent environment applications, making it faster, easier and more affordable to save.
- GE will bring scale and access to a global marketplace that will turbo charge the growth and adoption of Daintree’s Australian-made technologies
