Investing in Grid

Yesterday, we announced that a consortium of Indian Angel Network angels had invested $700,000 in Grid (www.workongrid.com). You'll find the announcement here: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/no-code-data-and-operations-management-platform-grid-secures-700k-funding/articleshow/91924400.cms

I was privileged to have three other co-leads who are way wiser and more experienced than I am; through the investment process, I learnt much from KRS Jamwal, Pramod Jajoo and Shalil Gupta.

Here, one will look to encapsulate why we invested in this company and hopefully leave some food for thought behind for you.

Purpose of the Company

An automation platform that seeks to drive efficiencies in the asset heavy, infrastructure and mining industries is much needed. Grid is tailor made for precisely these sectors, and this platform will driving operational efficiencies, which will have a direct positive environmental impact. Over time, this impact will magnify as the platform evolves to predictive intelligence and machine learning.

The Target Market

As investors, we always look for scale potential. After all, early stage investors will only generate returns and exits when the later stage investors come in, or a big fish in the industry acquires the company. Grid's target market is absolutely huge, global and growing.

Just the potential for Automation related revenues in the Operations domain, their target, is in excess of $14b. Market growth is in double digits and expanding. Consider this: quite paradoxically, the EV revolution is leading to the mining boom (E.g. Mining for Rare Earth minerals for batteries and other bits of the car). Countries around the world, partly due to a Keynesian response to the Covid crisis and partly due to environmental pressures, are investing heavily in core infrastructure and this is manifested most visibly in Smart Cities. The hunt for natural gas is strong as ever: the ongoing war in the Ukraine has unmasked just how much CNG is used across Europe and North America. These industries are the core focus areas for Grid.

The Value Proposition

The economics of deployment are compelling. Customers are able to switch on the platform very rapidly, and its open architecture lends itself to quick integrations with even archaic systems. This is especially important for the target industries as many customers have old systems that power up core functions.

Customers typically drive double digit efficiency gains post deployment, and the platform very quickly becomes part of the core operations. This creates stickiness, but also indicates deep value delivery. In what is a reasonably rare occurrence, a number of customers have invested in this round as well; I cannot imagine a stronger customer reference than this!

The delivery of this value, and its measurability, allows Grid to charge a fee that is generating healthy unit economics. As they scale, this will ensure a virtuous cycle of profitable growth and eventually deliver the high margins that SAAS companies are capable of generating.

The Team

We loved the 4 co-founders. We loved their energy, their humility, their drive, their clear eyed view of what their customers need, and their clear focus to do what it takes to build a great company.

We also liked their inter-personal dynamics, and as someone who's investments have been burnt twice by squabbling founders, I am particularly sensitive to this.

Most of all, we admire their beady eyed determination to win. And we'll be partnering with them all the way. Wish us luck!