Copper Labs is a technology company.
Copper Labs has raised $8.9M across 3 funding rounds.
Copper Labs has raised $8.9M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Copper Labs is a Boulder, Colorado-based technology company founded in 2016 that builds wireless energy monitors to deliver real-time data analytics from existing electric, gas, and water meters.[1][2][3] It serves utilities and residential consumers, solving the problem of limited visibility into energy usage by capturing revenue-grade data without requiring costly smart meter upgrades or infrastructure overhauls, enabling demand management, energy efficiency, and a faster transition to a low-carbon economy.[1][2][4] The flagship Copper device plugs into a wall outlet, uses multiple radios to read meters (compatible with AMI smart and AMR drive-by systems), and shares insights via mobile apps for consumers and web portals for utilities, with growth evidenced by $6.2M in total funding across four rounds and deployments in projects like Sterling Ranch.[2][3][5][6]
Copper Labs was founded in 2016 in Boulder, Colorado, by IoT veterans including Jeff Mathews, driven by the vision to realize smart grid promises through sustainable energy monitoring.[1][2][3] The idea emerged from recognizing the need for real-time visibility into energy use to tune infrastructure efficiently; early development used agile methods like Raspberry Pi prototypes and rapid iterations with in-house CNC milling and 3D printing to test across U.S. states, overcoming RF range challenges and customer limitations.[3] Pivotal early traction came from partnerships, such as with Siemens at Sterling Ranch—a smart city project—expanding from electric-only focus to gas and water, enabling deployments like gas demand response on legacy meters (data every 30 seconds vs. monthly) and scaling to hundreds of homes per device.[5][6]
Copper Labs rides the smart grid and decarbonization trend, providing granular data from legacy infrastructure amid rising extreme weather, electrification, and demand for resilience without massive capex.[1][3][5] Timing aligns with utilities facing grid strain from EVs, renewables, and climate events—e.g., hyper-accurate outage detection for non-smart meter utilities—while market forces like regulatory pushes for efficiency and equity favor its low-cost retrofits over full AMI rollouts.[2] It influences the ecosystem by enabling data-driven demand response, partnering with hardware/providers for AMx interoperability, and accelerating consumer-utility engagement in smart cities like Sterling Ranch.[1][5][6]
Copper Labs is positioned to expand its AMx ecosystem, scaling multi-utility monitoring to more smart cities and utilities via partnerships, with innovations like single-device aggregation amplifying deployments.[1][5] Trends in AI-driven grid optimization, rising DER adoption, and federal incentives for efficiency will propel growth, potentially evolving its role from monitor to full grid intelligence platform. As utilities prioritize resilience and low-carbon transitions without overhauls, Copper Labs' real-time edge cements its utility in a sustainable energy future.[1][3]
Copper Labs has raised $8.9M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Copper Labs's investors include Blue Bear Capital, Canaan Partners, Clearvision Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Fontinalis Partners, National Grid Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Third Prime, Danny Hadar, Bessemer Venture Partners.
Copper Labs has raised $8.9M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $6.0M Series A in March 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 2022 | $6.0M Series A | Blue Bear Capital, Canaan Partners, Clearvision Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners, Fontinalis Partners, National Grid Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Plug & Play Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Third Prime, Danny Hadar | |
| Nov 1, 2019 | $2.0M Seed | Bessemer Venture Partners, Blue Bear Capital, LOI Venture, Plug & Play Ventures, Third Prime, Mark Cuban, Canaan Partners, Clearvision Ventures, Danny Hadar, Flybridge Capital Partners, Fontinalis Partners, National Grid Partners, Pitango Venture Capital, Square Peg Capital | |
| Aug 1, 2018 | $950K Seed | Bessemer Venture Partners, LOI Venture, Mark Cuban |