The energy startup AI platform provides cost savings through rate optimization, consolidated billing, and real-time intelligence, while requiring no upfront investment.
Brick-and-mortar businesses are facing increasing pressure to manage utility expenses without compromising operations. This is especially important during the current period when there is rising energy demand due to the rapid growth of AI and data centers.
San Francisco-based TrueMeter, the first AI-powered platform to automate energy savings for multi-location businesses, has raised $4 million in a seed round led by Ulu Ventures to address this challenge head-on.
The round included Pear VC, e2.vc, RiverPark Ventures, Flex Capital, Sarah Smith Fund, Cyan Ventures, Costanoa, and Sand Hill Angels, bringing TrueMeter’s total funding to over $5.5 million.
With over $3 million in savings generated by its platform for businesses such as Yoshinoya and Fresh Direct, this is just the beginning of its entry into the $500 billion U.S. commercial energy market.
Founders’ Backgrounds Bring Critical Expertise to Startup
TrueMeter’s founders bring both academic research and industry experience to commercial energy optimization.
- Ali Sarilgan, CEO, formerly led corporate strategy at GameStop, where he forecasted utility bills across 3,000+ retail locations, knowing firsthand the challenges of energy management.
- Dr. Ozge Islegen-Wojdyla, co-founder and CTO, earned her PhD at Stanford, focusing on energy pricing and later led pricing strategy at Instacart. Her expertise in energy markets and advanced pricingalgorithms is an important element of TrueMeter’s business model to optimize energy.
Together, they are applying rigorous data-driven methods to help businesses capture savings that were previously out of reach.
A Critical Moment for Energy Management
Brick-and-mortar businesses with multiple locations that include restaurants, retailers, and hospitality operators face unpredictable bills and escalating costs.
The company estimates that over 1 million multi-location businesses in the U.S. spend more than $500 billion annually on energy, with an estimated $75 billion wasted annually from billing errors and suboptimal rate plans.
Current solutions that fall short include costly bill-pay agents or brokers that focus on rate negotiations, failing to deliver meaningful savings or operational visibility.
True Meter serves companies by unlocking energy savings without requiring upfront investment.
Co-founder and CEO Ali Sarilgan explains, “Enterprises are demanding zero-capex solutions that deliver meaningful savings without operational disruption.”
How TrueMeter Works
TrueMeter’s platform delivers 7–15% energy cost reductions through rate optimization, consolidated billing, and real-time intelligence, while requiring no upfront investment.
Businesses can immediately access lower electricity rates, aggregate gas purchases for further savings, automate bill auditing to catch errors, and use real-time monitoring to find inefficiencies and possible energy theft.
By consolidating billing and guaranteeing annual pricing, TrueMeter gives CFOs predictability and transparency. The system’s analytics layer also highlights usage patterns across multiple sites, enabling proactive decisions that reduce waste and improve efficiency.
Since its launch in March 2024, TrueMeter has already scaled to over 500 business locations, processing millions in energy spend for restaurant chains, retail outlets, and hospitality groups.
Steve Reale, Partner at Ulu Ventures, who joins TrueMeter’s board, describes the market opportunity, “Their proven ability to deliver measurable savings while streamlining operations positions them uniquely in this underserved market.”
The latest funding will accelerate the company’s growth by expanding its engineering team, enhancing its AI platform, and driving customer acquisition across industries hit hardest by energy price volatility.
Why Energy Savings Matter Now
The importance of TrueMeter’s solution goes beyond balance sheets.
As businesses pursue resilience in a volatile market, energy savings play a vital role in achieving long-term sustainability and competitiveness, having a:
- Financial impact: Energy savings increase margins without staff or service cuts, even amid rising costs.
- Environmental impact: Less waste reduces grid strain and cuts emissions.
- Scalable for all: No capital required, making enterprise-level energy optimization accessible to smaller operators.
With fresh capital and a growing customer base, TrueMeter is positioned to not only expand its platform but also redefine how enterprises manage one of their most unpredictable expenses.
