Enlighted raises $20M for its ambient lighting sensor network

The lighting and temperature of large workspaces is usually a one-size-fits-all situation, and somebody’s always unhappy.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based startup Enlighted has developed wireless sensors that gather a range of real-time environmental data such as light, heat, and movement to help companies more intelligently control lighting and temperature in workspaces. And today it’s announcing $20 million in new funding.

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The startup says its lighting sensors are now installed in 45 million square feet of commercial space and that 11 million of those went in during the second quarter of this year. Some big companies have installed the sensors, including LinkedIn, Google, AT&T, Barclays, and Genentech.

Enlighted’s sensors are deployed throughout a commercial space to form a grid. The sensors constantly capture fine-grained energy, temperature, and occupancy data and report it back to a central analytics and control system via a dedicated wireless network. Enlighted’s system is being used to control lighting right now, but its platform will soon add control of new environmental factors such as heating and cooling, and security.

The company’s large fourth round of venture funding comes from top-shelf Silicon Valley VCs — namely, existing investors Draper Nexus Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, RockPort Capital Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Intel Capital.

Enlighted’s last funding round came in April 2013, when it raised $20 million. The current round brings the company’s funding total up to $55.4 million.

“Enlighted is on a tear, with strong customer momentum and revenue growth,” Enlighted’s recently appointed chief executive Joe Costello said in a statement. “With this latest funding, we’ll be able to keep up with current demand and continue to develop advanced workplace applications based on our sensor network and analytics platform … .”

The startup is addressing an expensive problem. Lighting currently eats up about 18 percent of the world’s power consumption, and the demand for lighting around the world is expected to grow 80 percent by 2030, analysts say.

Enlighted was founded in 2009.