The funding round was led by New York-based private equity and venture capital firm Insight Partners. The company, founded in 2014, has now raised a total of $50.6 million.
Olea Edge has developed a platform that optimizes water delivery, billing and conservation for municipal water utilities. The technology, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, is designed to help utilities manage water, reduce waste and increase revenue.
The funding will be used to expand the company's water distribution management technology for its AI-enabled, Internet of Things products. Internet of Things, or IoT, is an industry term that refers to non-computing devices, such as appliances, that are connected to the Internet.
Olea Edge's IoT tech includes smart meters that work with the company's software product. The technology helps water meters detect real-time anomalies, and connects them to software that can recommend fixes.
"Cities and water utilities are facing tremendous challenges from all sides: financial, operational, hiring and more," said Dave Mackie, CEO of Olea Edge. "This investment aligns perfectly with our objectives to scale the company, drive innovation in the water industry and help cities and utilities operate more efficiently."
The city of Atlanta is an example of how municipal water utilities are using Olea Edge's platform.
The partnership began in 2018 as a pilot program that placed Olea Edge sensors on 29 water meters. In three months, Olea said it found more than $1 million in recoverable revenue for the water department.
Encouraged by those results, the program grew to 700 meters, with Atlanta devoting $1 million to the project. In less than 12 months, the program identified $10 million in potential revenue, Olea Edge said.
In February, Atlanta announced a $3.9 million expansion of its partnership with Olea Edge to add 1,600 additionalOlea Edge endpoints. The investment is projected to recover tens of millions of dollars that can be used for other infrastructure-related projects.
In addition to product development, Olea Edge will use the funds to accelerate hiring across all departments. The company currently has 50 employees, about 70% of them located in Austin.
A spokesperson said Olea Edge expects to double the size of the company in the next 12 months, with 70% to 80% of those employees based in the Austin area.
The Olea Edge deal follows several other recent sizeable investments in Austin companies. Last month, Self Financial, which helps consumers establish and build credit history, received $50 million.
Other deals include health care technology firm Closedloop.ai, which raised $34 million; medical tech firm OsteoCentric Technologies, which brought in $30 million and real estate tech company Sellers Shield, which received $15 million.
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