How Orange Energy Brought Strategic Investors Beyond Silicon Valley Into Its Round With Pairs
Orange Energy builds energy products for commercial buildings: apartments, offices and hospitality. It started with EV charging at apartments, and its core technology, OrangeNet, now manages any energy asset at the edge of the grid. Neil Joseph, its CEO, was early at Tesla in 2010, when it had 700 employees, and sold his IoT company, Stack Lighting, to Philips Lighting. Orange Energy already had strong Silicon Valley investors, and they had already invested in the round. What Neil wanted were new investors who brought expertise in energy, infrastructure and real estate, and who sat outside the United States.
The category was out of favor.
When the raise started, hardware was not what investors wanted, and EV charging had been through years of turmoil. Many players raised too much money ahead of the market and dropped out. Neil had to make sure Orange Energy was not thrown out with the rest.
The network stopped at Silicon Valley.
Orange Energy had strong venture connections and great investors at home. It is building technology that applies globally, and it had no route to the strategic investors in other markets.
Capital was not the gap.
The existing investors had already committed. What the round needed were people who could open doors on the vendor side, the customer side and the real estate side, layered on top of the investors already there.
“We have really solid Silicon Valley venture connections and already great investors. But the big thing about that round we did was how do we expand who is helping the company? It’s not just about the cash, but it’s about the experience.”
Neil Joseph, CEO, Orange Energy
Neil had raised before and run a company through an exit. He still found the start of the process the part that stood out: what to expect, the timeline, and how the company is prepared before the first meeting. Onboarding on the Pairs platform now takes a few minutes and loses none of the depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
1
Prepare the company before it goes out.
A structured onboarding, with coaching and resources on the message, the cadence and how to run the process. The outbound materials were built together with Orange Energy’s marketing team.
2
Find investors who bring more than capital.
Pairs built the lists fast, checked them against Orange Energy’s do-not-contact list, and started booking meetings straight away. The brief was specific: expertise in the key areas Neil named, and investors across the globe rather than in Silicon Valley.
3
Brief every meeting and report every week.
Weekly status updates, and a note before each new meeting on what Neil needed to know about the firm. Many of the firms were in other parts of the world and new to him, and the notes cut his research time ahead of each call.
“You were very great about finding people all across the globe that had relevant expertise, but were not just in the US market, certainly not in Silicon Valley, which we already have a strong network ourselves.”
Neil Joseph, CEO, Orange Energy
The introductions that turned into investors are the ones Neil remembers most. Quorum Capital is one of them. Neil calls the fund an amazing investor and top notch, and says it has helped on everything from recruiting to opening doors in the energy sector and on the real estate side. Orange Energy ended up with several strategic investors who unlock technology, go to market and access to partners that would be much harder to reach on its own.
The relationships kept going after the round. Neil still talks to the investors who came in all the time, and had dinner with one of them the night before the interview. Orange Energy sends a quarterly update to every investor, with the good and the challenges, and a short list of the doors each one can help open. Since the round, its growth has tracked close to the plan in its deck, and it is now the fastest growing company in multifamily EV charging.
RELATIONSHIP IN NUMBERS
Client since
October 2025
Round type
Series A
Investors met
9, from 20+ introduced
Investor types
Venture funds, family offices and strategic energy investors, in the US and abroad
Time to first introduction
24 to 48 hours after onboarding on the current platform
Investment closed
Quorum Capital & Others
Pick investors for what they bring beyond the check.
Capital is critical, Neil says, and the part everyone underestimates is picking partners who bring expertise and open doors. Almost all of Orange Energy’s investors have some kind of strategic value.
Know where your own network ends.
Orange Energy had Silicon Valley covered. It brought in help for the strategic investors in energy, infrastructure and real estate, and for the markets outside the United States.
When the category is out of favor, sell the core technology.
Hardware was not in fashion when the raise started, and EV charging had a bad name. Neil reframed Orange Energy around OrangeNet and the problems it solves at the edge of the grid.
The CEO stays the face of the raise.
Investors are buying into the CEO, especially at an early stage company. Neil took every meeting himself and relied on his team for the preparation behind it.
Every investor update should carry an ask.
Orange Energy’s quarterly update covers the good and the challenges, and closes with the top things each investor can help with. People want to be helpful, Neil says, and helping ties them in.
The second time, build the system.
Neil approved every design as a first-time CEO. This time he set four principles, reliability, tenacious curiosity, relentless honesty and moving the ball forward, so the team decides without him as the bottleneck.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pairs onboarded Orange Energy through a structured process, built the investor lists fast against its do-not-contact list, and booked meetings with investors who brought expertise in energy, infrastructure and real estate, across the globe and outside Silicon Valley. Every new meeting came with a briefing on the firm, and Neil got a status update every week. Quorum Capital came out of those introductions and invested, and has since helped on recruiting and on doors in energy and real estate.
Orange Energy already had a strong list of Silicon Valley venture firms. What it did not have were introductions to strategic investors in other markets, matched to the areas Neil asked for. Each one came with a note on who the firm was, because many of them were in other parts of the world and new to him.
No. Orange Energy's existing investors had already committed to the round before the new introductions. Neil is clear that the CEO stays the face of the raise and has to win the investor's trust himself. Pairs prepared the company, opened the doors and kept the process moving.
Investors with expertise in energy markets, infrastructure and real estate, on the vendor side, the customer side and the real estate side, across the globe and mostly outside the United States. Quorum Capital, the fund Neil names on tape, has helped Orange Energy on recruiting and on opening doors in the energy sector and in real estate.
Neil says Pairs was very fast: the lists came together quickly, were checked against Orange Energy's do-not-contact list, and the team started booking meetings straight away. On the current platform onboarding takes a few minutes at the same depth, and first introductions are booked within 24 to 48 hours of completing it.
Neil sees it the other way. Investors are investing in the CEO, and he took every meeting himself. The preparation behind the raise, he says, made the whole organization healthier and stronger, and asking for help shows more strength than pretending to know everything.
Orange Energy sends a quarterly update to every investor, covering the good and the challenges, with a list of the doors each investor can help open. Neil still talks to the investors who came in all the time. Next are products that turn the properties Orange Energy serves into assets that take part on the grid and earn new revenue.
