SynapSense and GE to collaborate on dynamic data center cooling

7/26/2010
GE and others invest $5m into product that aligns cooling with IT load in real-time

SynapSense Corp., a Folsom, Calif.-based provider of data center monitoring and management solutions, has secured additional funding from a group of investors, including the large global conglomerate GE, to develop further its solutions for dynamic control of the cooling load in data centers.

The combined financing round totals $5m. GE Energy Financial Services, a wing of GE, was joined by six other investors to fund the development of a joint solution between GE and SynapSense. The product will combine SynapSense offerings with those of GE Intelligent Platforms to create a solution that aims to help optimize cooling capacity by dynamically aligning cooling capacity with changes in IT load.

“SynapSense is a strong addition to GE’s digital energy, smart grid and ecomagination-related investments, offering multiple commercial and development collaboration opportunities ina data center equipment market estimated sat $40bn a year, with annual electricity consumption costing $7bn.” GE Energy Financial Services’ head of venture capital investing Kevin Skillern said.

SynapSense’s product will be combined with GE’s Proficy software and control platform, which provides real-time data center performance metrics.

GE has used SynapSense technology in some of its data centers since 2008, including GE Corporate and NBC Universal facilities.

Other investors in the partnership are Emerald Technology Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, American River VBgenguredf, Nth Power and DFJ Frontier.