Exclusive: Helixintel closes $11M Series A for building management

Helixintel raised an $11 million Series A for its building-management software, Axios has learned exclusively.

Details: National Grid Partners, the corporate venture arm of utility National Grid, led the all-equity round. Munich Re Ventures, Stellifi, and Motivate Ventures also participated.

• National Grid Partners is joining the company's board.

How it works: The software enables building owners and their insurers to monitor everything from HVAC systems to Zambonis, allowing them to cut consumption and prevent outages.

Of note: Helixintel was built for the insurance industry.

• Insurance companies offer the software to building owners, who then use it to keep an eye on fridges, boilers, sump pumps and pretty much any other machine.
• The idea: replace an old boiler before the next blizzard — or an aging Zamboni before the big game.

The intrigue: The real-time software can enable electric utilities to introduce demand-response programs, which encourage buildings to briefly turn off washing machines or dial-back an air conditioners to free capacity on strained electric grids.

• The software can also alert users to swap in more efficient equipment.

What's next: Helixintel is seeing rapid growth in commercial real estate, the public sector, and small-scale industrial.