Novele Raises $17 Million to Scale Commercial Building Energy Platform

Novele has raised $17 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Boisei Labs to scale its energy management and storage platform for commercial buildings. The company says it already has live deployments with Fortune 50 customers, more than 2,000 buildings engaged and a pipeline spanning 2.6 billion square feet. The round also included Locke Health, Arup Ventures, Barton Malow and several large commercial real estate owners and operators.

 

Novele Is Targeting Flexibility Already Inside Existing Buildings

 

Novele’s platform combines BoardOS, its energy management software, with EnergyBoard, a distributed energy storage system designed for occupied commercial buildings. The company’s model is based on using software to predict and manage power demand in real time while storage gives building owners more control over when electricity is used.

The wider idea is to turn commercial buildings from passive power consumers into flexible energy assets. Rather than waiting for new grid infrastructure to be built, Novele is focusing on buildings that are already connected to the system and could shift or store electricity when demand is high.

 

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The 2.6 Billion-Square-Foot Pipeline Gives the Funding More Weight

 

The Series A follows a period of expansion for Novele, with more than 2,000 buildings engaged across a 2.6 billion-square-foot pipeline. The company also says it has live deployments with Fortune 50 customers, giving the new funding a clearer route into existing commercial demand.

That matters because the value of distributed energy systems depends heavily on deployment scale. A single building can reduce its own costs and manage demand, but a large portfolio of buildings can provide a more meaningful source of flexibility to the grid if those assets can be coordinated.

 

AI Is Being Used to Manage Power Rather Than Just Monitor It

 

BoardOS is designed to work from circuit-level data through to portfolio-level reporting, allowing Novele to track and manage energy use across individual buildings and larger real estate portfolios. The company says the system is intended to predict, reshape and optimise power demand rather than simply report it.

This is where Novele is trying to differentiate itself from conventional building energy software. The platform links digital control with physical storage, giving the software something it can act on when electricity prices, demand or grid conditions change.

 

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The Funding Will Be Used to Scale Installations

 

Novele plans to use the Series A to expand its engineering, deployment and commercial teams, increase installations across its active pipeline and continue developing BoardOS. The company has also completed large-scale UL 9540A fire testing, supporting its UL 9540 listing for the storage system.

Investor participation also reflects the mix of sectors Novele is targeting. Arup Ventures brings built-environment expertise, while Barton Malow adds construction experience, both of which are important because deploying energy systems in existing commercial buildings involves more than software alone.

 

The Next Test Is Whether Buildings Can Become Grid Assets at Scale

 

Novele’s longer-term ambition is to aggregate commercial buildings into a distributed energy resource that can support both building owners and the wider electricity system. That model becomes more relevant as AI infrastructure, data centers and advanced manufacturing increase pressure on US power demand.

The real test will be whether Novele can convert its 2.6 billion-square-foot pipeline into operating installations and show that building-level storage and control can deliver reliable savings, resilience and grid flexibility at scale.

 

Source: Novele