Validere scores $15M Series A funding to accelerate supply chain efficiencies in the energy industry

Forty trillion dollars of physical oil and gas is traded annually and 3 – 5% of that value evaporates due to opaque and fragmented product quality data. Enter Validere, a provider of informatics platform that enables energy companies to realize efficiencies through real-time product quality insights. Validere is making it possible for producers, midstream companies, and refineries to make better operational and trading decisions through accurate and timely product quality insights.

Today, Validere announced it has closed $15 million ($20,551,275 CAN) Series A funding round to scale its rapidly growing U.S. market, expand its team, and grow its technological capabilities across the oil and gas ecosystem. The round was led by Wing VC, with participation from Greylock Partners and Sallyport Investments.

Founded in 2014 by Harvard graduate and award-winning scientist Dr. Ian Burgess and entrepreneur Nouman Ahmad, the Calgary, Canada and Houston, Texas-based startup Validere enables industry participants to optimize operational & trading decisions through a real-time view of their product quality data. The two founders recognized the enormous opportunity to bring data transparency to oil and gas.

“Forty trillion dollars of physical oil and gas is traded annually and 3 – 5% of that value evaporates due to opaque and fragmented product quality data,” said Ahmad, CEO at Validere. “As oil changes hands multiple times across the supply chain, it’s incredibly challenging to keep track of product quality. Product quality is critical as it underpins what the product is worth and where it can be delivered. Despite its importance, access to real-time quality data has been an elusive gap for the industry. We are solving this fundamental challenge by bridging new technologies with a deep understanding of the industry’s complexities. As recent market volatility has shown, optimization tools like Validere’s are more important than ever in helping the industry reduce costs and increase profitability.”

“Validere is making it possible for producers, midstream companies, and refineries to make better operational and trading decisions through accurate and timely product quality insights. It represents a step change in both industry wide efficiency and environmental impact as we’re helping companies minimize unnecessary shut-ins, system leaks, and overall emissions,” said Burgess, CTO at Validere.

Validere’s presence in North America is growing rapidly. Its software is now monitoring and optimizing over 3 million barrels per day for leading oil and gas companies in Canada and the U.S.

“Validere’s technology has been immensely helpful in guiding trading and logistics decisions across our portfolio,” said Nick Dunbar, President at SpecOil Canada, one of Validere’s customers. “We view Validere’s real-time quality insights as a crucial missing piece in the way trading decisions are currently made in the industry. We’re excited to continue improving the value we deliver to our shareholders via these tools.”

“Validere is creating a system of record for product quality in oil and gas, much as Salesforce did for sales and Workday for HR. In the process, it has the potential to massively improve supply chain efficiency, increasing margins and helping companies manage their environmental footprints,” said Aaref Hilaly, Partner at Wing VC and board member for Validere. “Validere’s team combines technical depth with industry expertise. We are excited to partner with them to help scale the company.”

“Validere’s unique software approach is bringing unprecedented transparency to the industry, and has potential to help companies avoid billions of dollars of inefficiencies,” said David Wadhwani, Partner at Greylock. “Validere’s team is a special combination of technologists, operators and domain experts, and I’m thrilled to be part of their journey.”

“This is a great time for AI in energy. Teams want to do more with less in response to both stakeholders and shareholders, and Validere lets them do that. We’ve been involved with Validere since their seed round and look forward to continuing to support this team and their innovative clients,” said Doug Foshee, former CEO of El Paso Corporation and current owner of Sallyport Investments.