May 1—GRAND FORKS — According to Thread CEO Joshua Riedy, now is a great time to be in the business of supporting utilities. He expects a
$2.5 million investment from the North Dakota Wonder Fund
will only help them expand and meet demand.
"There's a once-in-a-generation opportunity where utilities are either replacing or expanding their critical infrastructure," Riedy said. "So it's a great time to be in the business as a small company serving large companies like Xcel Energy. We want to be able to meet their needs and be able to scale."
Thread helps utilities with software for data digitization, management and automation. Last year, Thread also
received $2.5 million from the North Dakota Wonder Fund.
The fund is an investment program through the North Dakota Development Fund directed by "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and O'Leary Ventures and helps support start-ups and early-stage.
Riedy said investments like this help North Dakota companies, especially as the state is far from traditional centers of venture capital and as economic conditions shift and change.
"Those investment dollars mean the world when we're trying to grow and especially in a very unique economic environment where it's really hard to raise venture capital," Riedy said. "Companies that are from North Dakota that are largely disconnected from coastal networks that you'd see in Silicon Valley, Seattle or even Austin, Texas. ... We don't have those large networks."
According to Riedy, companies like his don't have as many options for traditional loan collateral since many of their assets are intellectual and they are still relatively small. Programs like the Wonder Fund, according to Riedy, help North Dakota build the investing environment that exists in other areas of the country.
"In North Dakota, I think we are somewhat afraid of failure, meaning we're afraid to take risks and big chances," Riedy said. "I can personally say in 2018 I think it was almost unheard of to take the type of risk that we did to form this company. In 2024 that's much more accepted."
The local support network is key for companies like Thread to succeed and be able to have the opportunity to grow, he said.
"Companies want to move successively and eventually exit through acquisition by another, larger company or be traded on the NASDAQ or Dow Jones (Industrial Average)," Riedy said. "Thread is too young to know which chapter we're going to take. Keep moving forward is the mantra you want to keep growing and to keep being successful."
North Dakota Department of Commerce Head of Investments and Innovation Shayden Akason said in a statement that the latest round of Wonder Fund investments significantly boost the economy, and that "these companies are integral to our key industries and the emerging sectors of the state's economy."