Energy market access platform Leap has raised $33.5 million in equity and debt in Series B funding led by Park West Asset Management, a Northern California-based investment management firm.

Existing investors Union Square Ventures, Congruent Ventures, and National Grid Partners also participated in the round. Other investors included Climate Capital, My Climate Journey, and ​​David Helgason, Founder of Unity Technologies. Silicon Valley Bank funded the debt portion of the capital raise.

Leap will use the fund to scale its platform to meet the growing demand for market-driven grid services across North America and beyond.

“As the grid transitions to renewable energy and incorporates more smart devices, flexible capacity is essential to balance power grids. Leap has grown 13-fold in load under management over the last two years and, in combination with our partners, our network has already replaced the equivalent of two gas peaker plants,” said Thomas Folker, Co-Founder and CEO, Leap.

Leap claims to have launched a market-driven approach to grid services instead of the previous generation of demand response, where households and businesses responded to requests from utilities in exchange for set rewards.

The company says its focus on cloud-connected and automated technologies translates to end-customers bringing new loads and customers into the market without taking any action themselves.

Leap claims it has already delivered significant value back to the grid. During the June heatwave in California, the company said it dispatched energy from more than 10,000 commercial and residential sites representing over 375 MWh of electricity to help support the grid and avoid blackouts.

Currently, the company has 215 MW under management, more than 20,000 participants on the platform, and dozens of strategic partners, including Stem and Sunrun.

Recently, clean energy platform WattBuy announced a $10 million expansion of their Series A raise, led by SE Ventures, a venture capital fund backed by Schneider Electric, along with My Climate Journey (MCJ) Collective – a climate tech fund.

According to Mercom Capital Group’s 1H and Q2 2021 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid & Efficiency, VC funding for Energy Efficiency companies in 1H 2021 was 89% lower with $5 million compared to the $47 million raised in 1H 2020.