Accenture has announced a strategic investment in Reactive Technologies, a London, England-based provider of power and grid technologies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Reactive helps utility companies accelerate their transition to low-carbon energy, a business in which Accenture is eager to be involved. As the company points out, renewable energy is expected to be the largest source of electricity generation worldwide in 2025, with data and digital technology being key enablers for the shift.
“To effectively integrate the surge in renewables, power grids will need more visibility over network conditions to accurately balance the grid and manage inertia, or system strength,” the company said. For its part, Reactive Technologies provides measurement, real-time analytics and data services to help grid operators and other energy market players.
Accenture’s Investment: Untapped Potential
Maikel van Verseveld, managing director, Accenture Industry X, commented:
“Reactive Technologies’ patented measurement solutions and scalable cloud platform, combined with high-resolution edge computing devices, enable a digital network twin for simulating operations. This allows network operators to measure grid inertia and system stability in real-time. This convergence of communications, information and operating technology embeds new levels of intelligence in the operations of utilities, offering clients untapped potential for making the grid more stable, safe and efficient.”
Marc Borrett, CEO of Reactive Technologies, said:
“Working with Accenture helps us to operate on a global basis with a local presence and support our offering with their full suite of technical and commercial delivery capabilities.”
Accenture’s Investment Program
Reactive is now part of Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight, an investment program that targets emerging technology software businesses. Through the program, Reactive Technologies will co-innovate with Accenture and its clients at its Innovation Hubs, Labs and Liquid Studios, working with subject matter experts to bring solutions to market more quickly and more effectively.
Reactive Technologies is the latest addition to the investment portfolio of Accenture Ventures, which is focused on investing in companies that create or apply disruptive enterprise technologies, according to Accenture.
Accenture’s M&A Growth
Accenture has, of course, been very active on the M&A front as well. Most recently, the company acquired Olikka, a Melbourne, Australia-based systems integrator that supports Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure cloud services.
Accenture has made at least fifty acquisitions from 2019 through late 2020, including multiple deals in Australia and New Zealand. Noteworthy deals in the region include:
- October 2020: Cloud solutions technology firm and SAP partner Zag;
- February 2020: Data analytics, supply chain management and SAP partner Icon Integration;
- February 2020: Business strategy and econometrics firm AlphaBeta;
- December 2019: Specialist government consultancy Apis Group;
- August 2019: Big data and analytics company Analytics8; and
- June 2019: Cybersecurity and technology company BCT Solutions.
