Platform is a word that gets thrown around a lot in the technology industry, and it's often misused. But the basic definition of business school is: A platform is a company or business model that creates more value for its participants than it itself captures.
Consider that some of the most successful companies in the technology industry help other companies make more money in total than they make themselves. Decades ago, Microsoft made a lot of money promoting her PC revolution. Just recently, Apple announced that developers using the App Store will generate $1.1 trillion in revenue in 2022. This is nearly three times what he earned in the same year.
Sanjiv Sanghavi, a serial startup veteran who cut his teeth as co-founder of ClassPass and chief product officer at Arcadia, believes it's time for the energy transition to create an equivalent. In fact, he searched in vain for years to invest in such a company as his partner in his Day One Ventures venture. “So I decided to build it,” he told TechCrunch.
Sanghavi's newest company, Texture, aims to become a common data collection and sharing platform for renewable power sources such as wind, solar, and batteries. “We've done a really good job over the last decade of distributing hardware across the energy grid. Making solar affordable, making batteries affordable, making EVs more widespread.” he said. Each solar array or battery facility does not have the power on its own to provide clean, affordable power to the grid. But overall, it has a much better chance of displacing fossil fuels.
However, many of these systems come from different manufacturers, making basic communication between them difficult, let alone interoperable. “The lack of standards leads to the construction of a lot of walled gardens,” Sanghavi says. “Our view is that Texture provides a technology stack on which everyone should be able to accelerate.”
The company captures data directly from the equipment itself. If a manufacturer has an API available, it connects directly to the API, similar to how Plaid connects with banks. If not, you can build the necessary software to make the connection possible. For example, a battery manufacturer may not prefer to maintain an API in-house because it is not one of their core competencies.
If a solution already exists, it works in conjunction with a third party. “One of the principles of Texture is that we're not reinventing everything. Some companies are tracking power usage, grid health, meter data, rate data,” Sanghavi said. . “Shall we work together?”
Meanwhile, target customers for Texture's products include installers who sell monitoring and maintenance plans and virtual power plant operators who benefit from the ability to include batteries from different manufacturers. Having more data allows companies to sell more products. Texture charges customers based on the number of megawatts under management.
The company recently raised a $7.5 million seed round from Abstract Ventures, Day One Ventures, Equal Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, and a handful of angels including Arcadia CEO Kiran Bhatraju. The company plans to use the funding to further develop the product and test it with its first customers.
Not all suppliers have published their products on Texture yet, but Sanghavi clearly hopes that will happen. Sure, he could now charge for API access, but he thinks Texture's pitch to them will resonate. “If you play as part of an ecosystem, your market will grow many times over. Even if your market share is the same, your business will be five times bigger than his.” Texture delivers on that promise to customers If successful, it will provide a platform for a true energy transition.