SENET CLOSES $16 MILLION FUNDING ROUND
Senet Inc., a Portsmouthbased provider of cloud-based software and services for internet of things networks, has secured a $16 million funding round that the firm says positions it to accelerate deployment of its low-power wide-area network, or LoRaWAN, across the United States to support utility and municipal network builds.
The funding, led by Fisk Ventures, follows what Senet says has been a significant increase in demand from the energy and utility sector.
Built in public, private and hybrid configurations, Senet’s LoRaWAN network supports a variety of municipal, industrial and enterprise initiatives focused on automation, service delivery and sustainability.
Senet says it operates the largest LoRaWAN network in the United States and provides coverage and connectivity readiness in over 80 countries The funds will also be used to expand global business development and comarketing activities with network operators, tower companies and radio access network (RAN) providers, said Bruce Chatterley, Senet CEO.
DESPITE EARNINGS TUMBLE, STANDEX EXECS REAP REWARDS
Standex International Corp. had an off year financially, but its CEO and other executives did pretty well.
The Salem-based conglomerate had earlier said its sales fell by $35 million in the 2020 fiscal year, which ended June 30, with profits falling by 70%, and the company cutting its U.S. workforce in half. But CEO David Dunbar was paid over $4 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, an increase of 23%, the company said in its proxy for next month’s annual meeting.
Dunbar was paid 87 times the median pay of Standex employees, which, at $46,000, rose 12% last year.
But there are fewer such workers in the United States. The company employees 1,100 people in this country, half the number a year earlier. The rest of its 3,836 employees are scattered across 21 countries.
The company ended up with $604.5 million in sales for the fiscal year, with a net income of $20.2 million (or $1.64 a share), less than a third of the $67.9 million it made the previous year.
But all told, the company’s top four executives, including Dunbar, were paid $8 million in compensation, a 20% increase.
NEXTERA ACQUIRES DALLAS TRANSMISSION COMPANY
NextEra Energy Transmission, owner of the Seabrook nuclear power plant, has signed an agreement to acquire independent power transmission company GridLiance of Dallas, Texas.
The deal’s value is estimated at $660 million.
Established in 2014 by Blackstone Energy Partners, GridLiance owns and operates more than 700 miles of transmission lines and other infrastructure in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada and Oklahoma.
Besides New Hampshire, NextEra Energy Transmission, a subsidiary of Florida-based NextEra Energy, operates in California and also has projects under development in other locations in the U.S. and Canada.
ACAPELLA, MERRIMACK RIVER TECHNOLOGIES MERGE
Manchester-based Acapella Technologies is merging with Merrimack River Technologies, another Manchester firm, in a deal that Acapella’s owner says is the beginning of “a fast-growing network of local IT services for businesses throughout southern New Hampshire.”
Under the deal, the two companies will operate in one location under the Acapella name, and all Merrimack River employees will remain with the new firm. Both companies serve small, medium and large businesses around the region.
