Point of View – by Mia Javier

[Cross posted on Cleantech.com]

San Francisco-based CSRware is one of 35 new companies the Cleantech Group spotted in the past week looking to raise money. Details in Pitch o’ the Week.

A California startup is working with enterprises to collect the necessary data embedded in their operations and supply chain that enables resource management of energy, water, waste and carbon emissions.

In October, the company, San Francisco-based CSRware, partnered with Cisco Systems(Nasdaq:CSCO) to successfully integrate power use data with CSRware’s software platform, enabling energy analytics for Cisco’s EnergyWise products (see Cisco chases billion-dollar smart grid dreams).

CSRware said it has successfully centralized power usage data on all Cisco network-connected devices and currently powers Bloomberg’s sustainability index with its on-demand software.

Founder and CEO Karen Alonardo told the Cleantech Group CSRware has developed and released into the market a sustainability software product that enables a holistic resource accounting and management system targeted at mid-sized enterprises. The technology, according to Alonardo, assists organizations in better understanding, accounting for, and reducing their resource costs and environmental impact.

In the short term, Alonardo said the company is targeting the middle market as opposed to Fortune 1000 firms due in large part to the fact that such companies are typically enjoying soaring growth, giving suppliers a chance to grow with them.

To that point, Alonardo said a big part of her company’s technology is the collection of data from these growing enterprises. This also requires working with their suppliers to collect data. It is this data from which CSRware develops its analytics.

“The company was always intended to focus on energy, water, waste and carbon emissions,” said Alonardo, indicating the company’s resource accounting management system ties in to cost.

For example, Alonardo pointed out, “The company looks at waste in terms of poundage of waste diverted from landfills.”

In this way, CSRware clients are urged to work with their vendors to capture such data. Likewise, the company works with clients to develop analytics around better water management.

CSRware competitors include Hara, Carbon Networks and Enviance, but according to Alonardo, CSRware’s key differentiator is its holistic approach (see Kleiner Perkins hatches stealthy software startup Hara, Software: the glue that will hold cleantech together and Growing market for carbon software).

“In fact, we’re also a great passer for other partners and cleantech solutions,” said Alonardo, referring to working with clients that, to date, include Juniper Networks, VMware and Bloomberg.

“We’ve worked with clients on better ways to utilize cooling technologies,” said Alonardo, indicating that her company often recommends technologies that utilize less water or energy. The company, according to Alonardo, constantly asks its clients how they report on their use of resources and works with them to develop meaningful analytics.

CSRware clients pay a monthly subscription for the software as well as a platform set-up fee, Alonardo said. Clients typically sign a two-year contract and are not subject to licensing costs.

CSRware is currently seeking a $3 million Series A round of funding (see AquaMost’s water tech targets cleanup of gas leaks). The 12-employee company founded in 2006 is looking to close on active pipeline deals, release its next generation product, and hire key staff members, Alonardo said. The company has been operating on $350,000 from its founders and a board member.

The company also recently presented to investors at the Cleantech Group’s Cleantech Forum XXVI (see Cleantech innovations beyond energy take center stage).

CSRware is one of 35 potential new investment opportunities the Cleantech Group added to its innovation pipeline this week, available as an exclusive benefit forresearch subscribers. Clients can click here to search the database.

Interested in emerging cleantech innovations? Here are two new companies added to the Cleantech Group’s database this week also looking for funding:

• Toronto, Ontario-based WhalePower is seeking $4.5 million in Series A funding to build its sales and management teams and perform research and development. The company is continuing to develop its patented and field-tested wind turbine design that draws inspiration from a whale’s fins.
• Detroit, Mich.-based PowerPanel is seeking $5 million to tool its factories, certify its products, and intensify business development efforts. The company has developed a production ready photovoltaic (PV) design that it says collects as much heat as a standard thermal collector, while simultaneously cooling the PV cells, thereby making them more efficient.

Seeking capital, partners or customers? Submit to the Cleantech Group’s innovation pipeline.

Browse past pitches here.