Egypt-based infrastructure management platform Pylon, has raised $19 million in a Seed funding round comprising equity and debt, led by Endure Capital, Cathexis Ventures, Khawarizmi Ventures, Loftyinc Ventures and angel investors. 

The seed round for the rapidly-growing startup – which is profitable and grew by 3.5x in 2021 – began with initial funding from US technology startup accelerator, Y Combinator, and attracted a diverse group of investors from North America and MEA.  

Founded in 2017 by Ahmed Ashour and Omar Mohamed Radi, Pylon democratises smart grid infrastructure to energy and water distribution companies in emerging markets enabling them to capture up to $400 billion of losses and uncollected revenue.

Pylon does not charge utility companies an upfront cost for its hardware, but its model, Smart Metering as a Service (SMaaS) makes it easy for cash-conscious utility companies to deploy its solution at scale. With no upfront investment, Pylon can help utility companies increase their top line by up to 40%, just by signing up.

Pylon democratizes smart grid infrastructure to energy and water distribution companies in emerging markets enabling them to capture up to $400 billion of losses and uncollected revenue. The platform uses data and artificial intelligence to improve revenue collection, reduce losses and achieve a more efficient environmental footprint. 

Pylon is saving the planet, one metering point at a time, as smart electricity grids can reduce utilities’ carbon emissions by 25%. Another of Pylon’s goals is to achieve 1 Gigaton of total CO2 emissions reduction by 2035. Water losses in emerging markets also reach over 45 million cubic meters/day. Pylon can reduce this by up to 22%, potentially providing enough water to serve over 40 million people. 

Ahmed Ashour, Co-founder, and CEO of Pylon, commented: “We are delighted that our solution received such heightened interest and acclaim from a wide range of global investors. Our plug-and-play solution and flexible pricing models give utilities the full benefit of smart grids just by signing with us – increasing their aggregate revenue by up to 40%. With a $22 billion market opportunity, we provide a compelling model for investors who seek a fast-growing, profitable company, which, most importantly, has a significant impact on preserving our planet. Pylon’s ultimate goal is to benefit humanity, our clients, and our stakeholders.”

Ahmed goes on to say that 2022 will be an exciting year for Pylon as they embark on their next phase of growth which will see further expansion into Africa, Latin America, and South East Asia. They will also seek increased debt facilities to fast-track the accessibility of infrastructure solutions to utilities in friable economic landscapes.

Tarek Fahim, GP and founder of Endure Capital, commented: “We are excited to support the strong team at Pylon, who are building a unique software-centric solution to support more sustainable and smart infrastructure for utility companies in emerging markets. As one of the highest-ever valuations for a seed-stage company in the Middle East & Africa, and we are delighted to be at the forefront of positive change in the region.”

Ahmed Medhat, Board Advisor at Pylon (and Principal Research Scientist at Meta), commented: “When Ahmed Ashour and co-founder Omar Radi first walked me through what they had built, I was immediately hooked. By focusing their R&D and overall product ethos on approaches that fit the specific market dynamics of emerging market utilities, Pylon have developed their unique SMaaS model and has been able to upend big international players whose off the shelf utility management solutions don’t fit the needs of local utility companies in emerging markets.” 

Proceeds will accelerate Pylon’s growth via expansion into other emerging markets (South-East Asia, Africa, Latin America) and advance engineering and product development. The startup currently operates in Egypt and the Philippines, which have deployed more than one million endpoints of Pylon’s smart grid technology, across 15 distribution companies. Pylon’s goal is to increase its smart metering points to three million by 2023, which would represent 4x year-on-year growth.