Ecocentric raises $3.2 million, sparks equity crowdfunding rush

Digital transformation company Ecocentric has sparked an equity crowdfunding rush, having already raised over $410,000 from more than 150 investors via its OnMarket equity crowdfunding campaign.

Ecocentric is a digital transformation company that has developed the Numen intelligent energy monitoring system, utilising advanced AI technology developed in collaboration with Australia’s Science Agency, CSIRO.

Ecocentric’s funding to date includes $3.2 million raised from equity investors with the support of Merchant Corporate Advisory.. Equity crowdfunding legislation was introduced in January 2018. Previously, everyday investors didn’t have access to these types of investments.

“These types of deals are generally only available to venture capitalists or high net worth investors. The fact that Ecocentric has already raised over $3 million sends a strong message that larger investors have done their research, embraced the company’s potential and invested large amounts of money,” said OnMarket Managing Director Nick Motteram.

According to OnMarket, the Ecocentric campaign marks one of the first times in Australia that retail investors have been offered shares at the same price as institutional investors.

Ecocentric is on the verge of rapid scale up with a number of major national and international clients currently trialling Ecocentric’s technology suite.

Trials include Haven Power in the United Kingdom, part of the Drax Group, which has more than 400,000 customers across the country.

“Ecocentric is pleased to be able to share the potential upside with Australian retail investors. Our technology was developed in Australia, in partnership with the CSIRO, and it seemed fitting to share our growth story with smaller investors,” said Ecocentric Chief Executive Tim Bray.

Electrical faults have been named as the cause of some of the most horrific fires in recent history, including the fire at the Grenfell Tower in London and Notre Dame in Paris.

“Our technology monitors critical machines and devices to provide operational optimisation and early warning of any performance degradation to avoid catastrophic equipment failure and unplanned shutdowns,” said Mr Bray.

“Numen detects electrical arcs, which generally precede electrical fires. Numen could have prevented these disasters,” said Mr Bray.

Ecocentric’s Numen energy monitoring system also has a significant environmental benefit as it ensures that machines are operating to their optimal efficiency.

“When machines are performing as they should, they don’t waste excess energy and the risk of catastrophic failure is reduced,” said Mr Bray.

Ecocentric is planning to begin the manufacturing of its Numen devices to meet forward orders as trials convert to large-scale rollouts of its technology across Australia and the United Kingdom.

“The next twelve months will be characterised by the shift from the R&D phase to early commercialisation. We will continue to pursue growth with a focus on implementing new trials with new clients as well as converting trials into commercial orders,” said Mr Bray.

Ecocentric has partnered with Australian equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket to raise up to $1.5 million to progress mass commercialisation. The offer closes on 12 December 2019.

Ecocentric is at the forefront of the energy data revolution, creating technologies for digital transformation in the built world.

The company’s Numen technology is designed to make the world’s buildings safer, more energy efficient and more sustainable.

Ecocentric has a vision to collect and analyse the data from the world’s machines as it seeks to become the search engine of energy.