North Carolina-based smart-grid technology company Tantalus Systems plans to merge with RiseTech Capital, a TSX Venture Exchange-listed capital pool company.

Once finalised, the merger will result in Tantalus taking over leadership of the combined entity and gaining increased access to capital markets. Tantalus’ board and management team will remain in place and lead the combined company, which will continue to focus on delivering smart grid services to public power and electric cooperative utility customers.

“RiseTech Capital includes a group of industry experts and technology veterans who are committed to accelerating the success of purpose-driven, innovative technology companies,” said Manny Padda, CEO of RiseTech Capital. “After a thorough review, we believe Tantalus offers a compelling model that delivers quantifiable value to its growing number of utilities and has the necessary management team in place to build an exceptional business. We’re thrilled at the opportunity to support them in their mission.”

In parallel, Tantalus also announced the addition of a new chief financial officer (CFO), George Reznik. Reznik brings more than 25 years of experience as the CFO of publicly traded, high-growth technology companies in Canada. He comes to Tantalus after a successful tenure as CFO of Intrinsyc, a Canadian technology company providing IoT services and will join the leadership of the combined company.

These developments come as part of a recent string of additional utility wins for Tantalus this year, including the addition of 16 public power and electric cooperative utilities to its growing user community thus far in 2020. Tantalus has also recently become the preferred AMI vendor of another joint action agency, the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA), and is witnessing expansion across IMPA’s broader footprint.

These additional wins bring the total number of public power and electric cooperative utilities leveraging Tantalus’ innovations to more than 180 utilities.

“For more than 30 years, Tantalus has been driven by a single purpose, to deliver mission-critical solutions to public power and electric cooperative utilities,” said Peter Londa, president and CEO of Tantalus Systems. “As we turned our attention to planning for the next 30 years and beyond, we wanted to expand our access to capital to accelerate our strategic plan in support of this vital segment of the North American utility industry. Combining with RiseTech, bringing a veteran CFO on board and adding 16 new utilities to our user community provides us with even more momentum as we work to ensure the safety, prosperity and autonomy of the utilities we support and the communities they serve.”

Over the past three decades, Tantalus has developed technology that enhances the safety, security, reliability and efficiency of public power and electric cooperative utilities across North America and the Caribbean Basin. Tantalus provides mission-critical smart grid offerings that include an edge computing platform, software applications and an IoT communications network.

Tantalus helps utilities access granular data from both legacy meters and two-way intelligent devices to improve customer service, facilitate consumer engagement, realise cost savings and streamline operations. Its suite of smart grid products includes advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), demand-management technologies, data analytics, distribution automation and street lighting control systems.