Smart strategy generates wins for Evergy Ventures — KC’s quiet investment powerhouse

Editor’s note: The following content is sponsored by Evergy Ventures but independently produced by Startland News.

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As two long-standing utility companies merge, they’re creating a new kind of energy for GXP Investments — now known as Evergy Ventures — said Dennis Odell, announcing a rebrand of the investment firm.

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Approved in May 2018 by the Kansas Corporation Commission and the Missouri Public Service Commission, the merger of Great Plains Energy and Westar Energy creates a mammoth power company with about 1 million Kansas and nearly 600,000 Missouri customers, according to the Wichita Eagle.

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“GXP Investments — GXP — it was the old ticker symbol for Great Plains [Energy], which no longer exists, so it didn’t make a lot of sense to keep that name,” said Odell, vice president of Evergy Ventures, referencing the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains, the company behind both the fund and KCP&L.

The investment fund has served as the non-regulated investment affiliate of Great Plains Energy since 2015, infusing more than $50 million into a portfolio of 13 energy companies — including Kansas City based Pepper IoT and Spear Power Systems — Odell explained.

Click here to read more about Pepper IoT — recently named one of Kansas City’s Startups to Watch in 2019.

“[As Evergy Ventures] we will continue to do exactly what we’ve always done, which is invest in early stage energy companies,” Odell added. “[You’ll see] no change at all to our mandate or to our objectives. Just a different name.”

The fund’s new name serves also as a means for better alignment with the energy company’s new brand — Evergy Inc., he said.

Flying under the radar, Evergy Ventures has become the most active fund Kansas City has rarely heard of, said Brock Smith, managing director.

“Our focus is more sector based. We try to make as much of an effort as possible to invest in companies locally, but because we haven’t found as many opportunities in Kansas City [fewer people know about Evergy Ventures],” Smith said of the fund’s investment strategy that has — so far — included a majority out-of-state investments.

Local startups like Spear and Pepper have seen high value in the investment firm’s hands-on tactics, said Scott Ford, CEO of Pepper.

“Evergy Ventures has been an incredible value-add investor and partner to Pepper,” Ford said. “Brock Smith is our primary interface and he’s connected me into his network, provided sage advice, and interacts at the board level offering guidance and perspective valued by all board members. … Pepper is becoming increasingly in demand among U.S. utilities, and as we engage across the industry, Evergy Ventures is a very willing guide and advocate we will leverage to ensure we succeed.”

Brock Smith, Evergy Ventures managing director; Dennis Odell, vice president; and Ashwin Shashindranath, managing director

A key piece of the Evergy Ventures investment strategy is sorting companies into three categories: products and services that can make a utility run better; products that solve pain points on the consumer side of the energy space; and products that convert fossil fuel use to electricity use — a process referred to as beneficial electrification, Odell said.

“That’s why corporately, we’ve made the investment in about 1,000 charging stations across the region,” he said in example. “We believe that’s something that’s going to continue to happen.”

The fund’s core focus remains specifically on investments related to digital utility (smart grid, cyber security, smart sensors and advanced analytics), connected mobility (smart cities and mobility), distributed energy resources, and built environment, added Ashwin Shashindranath, managing director.

Embracing its new name, Evergy Ventures will use the rebrand as a shot of energy in its elevation efforts — further promoting the work of entrepreneurs innovating the energy landscape, Odell said.

“We have this kind of natural opportunity with the rebrand to say ‘if you have heard of us, know that we’re changing our name. If you haven’t heard of us, well let’s change that,’” he said.