Steve’s breakdown: We know how hard agencies are trying to get green accounts and we’re here to help. Draker will be the brand going forward and we suspect they will be ramping up their advertising efforts.

BURLINGTON, VT: Draker and Solar Power Technologies, Inc. (SPTI) jointly announce that they have successfully merged, effective 21 August, 2012. The combination creates a global leader with an offering of performance management solutions for commercial and utility-scale solar markets.

The combined company will operate under the “Draker” name.  The combined company also announces that it has closed an $8 million equity raise led by Austin Ventures, with participation from Harbor Light Capital Partners and other existing investors from both companies. The funding will be used to accelerate the development of the company’s integrated suite of monitoring, optimization, control and asset management products. It will also enable the company to increase its sales and marketing efforts and expand its operations globally.

Merging SPTI’s  DC monitoring and optimization technology with Draker’s established asset management platform creates a company everything  from basic monitoring to performance management. This unique platform gives solar asset owners and operators unprecedented capabilities to predict, measure, monitor, manage, optimize and control the performance and health of their large-scale PV assets.

Charles Curtis, CEO of Draker, will be the CEO of the combined company. Ray Burgess, CEO of Solar Power Technologies, will take on the role of President for the combined company. Mr. Burgess has over 30 years of leadership experience in the technology industry, spanning semiconductors, software and micro-mechanical systems. Mr. Curtis brings over 20 years of leadership experience in corporate finance and venture-backed growth companies, and over 10 years in renewable energy.The combined company will maintain its existing operations in Texas, Vermont, California and New Jersey, with plans for future geographic expansion.

Solar Power Technologies is based in Austin, Texas, Solar Power Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is focused on helping owners and developers maximize the financial performance of large-scale solar assets. The company provides a range of compatible monitoring and optimization hardware products, supported by a suite of web-based data management and analysis tools.

Draker provides solar monitoring and asset management solutions that are designed to help owners and operators of commercial and utility-scale PV systems maximize the efficiency and profitability of their solar assets. As a supplier of integrated end-to-end monitoring solutions, Draker’s turnkey systems combine proven field instrumentation with an intuitive web-based information management application and customer support. Draker is a fully integrated company that designs, manufactures and sells PV monitoring, management and controls systems into the global marketplace from its headquarters in Vermont, US, with additional offices in California and New Jersey (US).

Austin Ventures (AV) has worked with entrepreneurs to build valuable companies for over 25 years. With $3.9 billion under management, AV is an active venture capital and growth equity firm, based in Texas (US), and one of the most established in the nation. With an investment focus on business services and supply chain, financial services, new media, Internet, and information services, AV invests at all stages of company development, from $100,000 in “planned experiments” in early-stage ideas to $100+ million investments in expansion rounds and recapitalizations. AV’s strategy is to partner with talented executives and entrepreneurs through its CEO-in-Residence and Entrepreneur-in-Residence programs.

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