Energy cybersecurity startup, Operant Networks, announced today that investor and serial entrepreneur, Michael Herzig, recently joined as an Independent Board member of the company.
Mr. Herzig is a successful entrepreneur who has started two businesses from an initial concept and sold them to public companies. The first, MPI Professionals, was founded in 2001 and focused on financial-services information technology (IT) consulting. The second company, Locus Energy, was one of the leading enterprise data software solutions used for managing solar energy. In addition to his new role with Operant Networks, Mr. Herzig is an active startup investor and advisor.
“We are extremely lucky to have Michael join our board of directors. His background and areas of expertise are perfectly suited to help guide us as we scale.” Keith Rose, Operant Networks CEO.
Operant Networks is developing the standard for secure machine-to-machine communications focusing initially on the energy industry. Responding to the essential fight against climate change, ‘Electrify Everything’ represents the transition to a decentralized and highly distributed electric grid, comprised of solar, wind, batteries, and EV charging. This dispersive shift creates massive networking complexity and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Due the sheer volume of devices often communicating over the internet, traditional approaches are not able to address the requirements with affordable technical staffing levels.
“With over 3 gigawatts of generation facilities including nuclear power plants already using their solution, Operant Networks is quickly becoming a leader in the space. I have been very impressed by the team and technology, and am excited to contribute.” said Herzig.
Operant’s integrated networking and cybersecurity software addresses customer pain-points by reducing both complexity and cost. Last year a report published by the U.S. Department of Energy, referred to Operant’s technology as potentially “game-changing” in the category of cybersecurity solutions enabling the transition to a carbon-free electric grid. Additionally, last September Operant Networks announced their Series Seed venture funding round led by Constellation Technology Ventures.
Meet the team at Distributech booth #4621B
For more information on Operant Networks: [email protected]
Operant Networks is a leading provider of machine-to-machine communications using a novel networking technology that provides intelligence and security on data packets. Founded in 2016, Operant has been developing their solutions with funding from the Department of Energy and U.S. Air Force. Operant Networks, headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, is deploying their solutions to critical infrastructure throughout the US.