Schneider Electric Launches Silicon Valley Innovation Center for New IoT Technologies

The North American unit of Schneider Electric, Andover, Mass., has launched a new initiative to find and support start-ups focused on developing applications for the intersection of energy and the Internet of Things. Schneider’s new Silicon Valley Innovation program, led by Paul Campbell, the newly appointed vice president of innovation, will be based at the company’s new Silicon Valley Innovation Center, and will start with three partnerships with start-ups based in the Boston and Silicon Valley areas. The program will be a key resource for the company’s innovation efforts around the world.

The Innovation program will combine Schneider Electric’s research and development resources with support from Aster Capital, an energy and IoT focused venture capital firm, to partner or invest in new companies and engage Silicon Valley-based universities to help expand Schneider Electric’s open innovation strategy. The goal of the program is to explore new growth opportunities outside of existing markets and technologies and extend the company’s existing assets into new opportunities, Schneider said in a release.

The first phase of the program will identify and develop 10 start-up companies by Q4 2016. The first three partnerships are already in place:

• Lighting manufacturer Digital Lumens will add its intelligent, connected sensors and LED lighting solutions to Schneider Electric’s existing EcoBuildings offering.
• PlanetEcosystems Inc., will provide a customer engagement technology platform to utility service clients.
• OhmConnect will provide a platform to coordinate energy reductions among consumers with software that supports transactions for consumer-level demand response revenue sharing.