Cleantech 100 Company Opower Eyes Long-Planned IPO

The long anticipated initial public offering of Opower Inc., recently named to the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 list, may arrive in the next few months. That’s according to sources cited in a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have been selected to lead the underwriting for the IPO, which has been in the works since 2011. The sources cited by the Journal were unsure of Opowers’s worth or the value of shares. The firm’s spokeswoman and representatives of Goldman and Morgan Stanley declined to comment for the Journal report.

Opower is among 27 companies to be voted to the 2013 Global Cleantech 100 list in energy efficiency category this year. It was noted for innovative use of Software as a Service-based solutions and the strength of its utility partnerships to facilitate home-energy efficiency.

A prominent trend highlighted in this year’s Global Cleantech 100 is the connection of smart grid and energy efficiency. Opower is among a number of companies that use a capital efficient model of web-based data gathering to build analytic tools.

Opower was also named to the 2012 Global Cleantech 100 list, as well as the CNBC Disruptor 50 and The WSJ’s Next Big Thing in Cleantech lists.

Speaking at the Global Cleantech 100 Summit in October, Robert Morris, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Operations, described Opower as driven by a mission to help people, the “greatest renewable energy resource there is,” save energy and the environment. He said the company meets with utility CEOs across the globe on a weekly basis to work on furthering their mission.

Morris credited the passion and drive of the company’s more than 400 employees for enabling its rapid growth. When he first interviewed with the company, he immediately saw the incredible talent of the staff assembled by Opower as a sign that it was an innovator where “something different was happening.” He said the company is looking to continue hiring talented people that share its mission and tap experts in various countries to guide its international growth, estimating that Opower’s staff worldwide will number 500 by the end of the year.

Morris said Opower saved its 3 billionth Killowatt hour, as of early October.

Arlington, Va.-based Opower, says on its website that it’s systems are used by more than 90 utility companies, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Commonwealth Edison, and 22 million customers globally. Founded in 2007, Opower has raised $65 million from venture-capital firms including New Enterprise Associates, Accel Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Opower has more than 400 employees, according to it’s website.

While Opower is tight lipped about its revenue, in 2010 CEO and co-founder Daniel Yates said it had agreements that would generate more than $30 million in revenue over the next few years.

To read the full Wall Street Journal article cited in this story, click here

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