Uplight in the News: What the Industry is Saying

By Crystal Leaver on

On July 15 we officially announced the merger between Simple Energy and Tendril to create Uplight. We’re thrilled to have had such a positive response from our customers, partners, and the media. If you didn’t catch the stories, we’ve put together the highlights and links below. 

 

The Uplight Story on Twitter

 

Yoav Lurie, Uplight President and COO put together a fascinating history of the Simple/Tendril merger and birth of Uplight on Twitter.  Someone remarked, “Whoa!! This is like watching Captain Planet get formed in real time.” 

 

Top News 

The utility trade media were really interested in the news and wrote about Uplight’s impact on the energy industry. Here are a few examples:

 

Greentech Media: Tendril Merges With Simple Energy to Form Uplight

Jeff St. John discusses how “Tendril and Simple Energy, two Colorado-based startups focused on utility customer data analytics and energy engagement, have merged into a one-stop-shop for utilities’ customer-facing software needs.”  He talked with Adrian Tuck, Uplight CEO, about the three-step process between utilities and their customers–’engage, activate, and orchestrate,’ and how Simple Energy’s strength in getting customers to take action complemented Tendril’s strengths. The article wrapped up by discussing the significance of the name “Uplight,” and the new role of Uplight as an innovative partner for utilities with a great track record. 

Utility Dive: Tendril targets utility customer care trend, merges into a new platform

Iulia Gheorghiu tapped IDC Energy Insight analyst Ken Prouty for his thoughts about the merger. He summed it up by saying, “Tendril was kind of one of the last big independent players. I don’t think anyone’s assembled a portfolio like this” of the new company. She also talks with Uplight Chief Strategy Officer about how the combined companies are already breaking down silos. According to Justin, “A residential customer could choose to shop in Simple Energy’s marketplace based on Home Energy Reports offered by Tendril. Now, customers could see opportunities to save on energy use through their behavior and through products that they can purchase based on analytics that could, for instance, estimate how a shift to time-of-use rates will affect the household.”

T&D World: Tendril & Simple Energy Merger Uplight Strives to Alleviate IT Integration Headaches

Lauren Callaway conducted a Q&A on the creation of Uplight, describing the company as having “one of the most wide-ranging portfolios of applications that address the changing customer landscape—both in heightened expectations on customer experience and the need to deliver less expensive, cleaner energy.” In the article, Justin Segall, chief strategy officer and Jeff Woodward, VP of Product Development talked about how utilities are currently playing the role as system integrators since they have limited options on how to keep up with customers while meeting regulatory needs. Lauren wraps up the article with a quote from Justin, “There is a relationship between investing in value for customers and grid and infrastructure investments. The problem is that utilities struggle to tie this back to the rate case with founded examples and data. This is the single thing that we, as a company, do best.”

Denver Business Journal: Behind the deal: Why these two Colorado energy-tech companies decided to merge

Greg Avery writes about the merger with a more local spin, quoting Justin Segall, chief strategy officer of Uplight on the motivation behind the merger, ‘We were hearing there was this market need that wasn’t being met. Customers were saying they needed a different kind of partner.’ Greg highlights some of the strengths of the merger, “The size means Uplight’s teams that can work on energy-related marketing technologies, or data science for crunching numbers about energy use, or other kinds of software are larger than the whole staff of many startups it’s competing against. That gives utilities confidence that Uplight’s got the resources to be around for a few years.”

 

 

Social Media Mentions

Elta Kolo, Research Manager/Senior Analyst for Grid Edge at Wood Mackenzie Power, via Twitter states that Uplight “stands out as it’s assembling a suite of customer analytics and engagement solutions…”

It’s been energizing to hear others excited about our mission as well!

Stay tuned to our blog for more great news about Uplight, insights from our team, and customer stories.

Uplight News

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