California-based EcoFactor, the startup company that won the 2009 business plan competition in the Cleantech Open for its residential energy management service, announced yesterday that it has closed a $2.4 million financing led by Claremont Creek Ventures.
EcoFactor said the funding will help accelerate commercial deployment of its residential energy management solution, which uses broadband internet connections, rather than smart meters, to regulate home heating and cooling.
The company announced its first commercial deployment with Texas utility Oncor last year. According to a Greentech Media report, Oncor plans to install the EcoFactor system in about 2,000 homes.
EcoFactor offers a SaaS-based residential energy management solution
that works with two-way communicating thermostats and a broadband
Internet connection to develop a dynamic, customized heating and
cooling strategy. EcoFactory says its system can save homeowners
an average of 20-30% on their HVAC energy spend without loss of
comfort or control. The company’s personalized approach to HVAC
management continuously adapts to thousands of new data points each
day, including weather patterns, a home’s unique thermal
characteristics and occupant preferences. In addition to consumer
savings, EcoFactor offers cost-effective and self-validating energy
efficiency, demand response and load forecasting to utilities and
energy retailers.
“What impressed us most about EcoFactor is that their approach has the
potential to create not just a successful business, but a whole new
market. They combine the technology to deliver painless energy savings
with the vision to deliver that efficiency as a cost-effective service
to millions of homes. We think EcoFactor is going to fundamentally
change the game in energy management.” said Nat Goldhaber, Claremont Creek Ventures Managing Director, who has previously invested in several demand-side energy companies.
Claremont Creek Ventures (www.claremontvc.com) has $300 million under management in two funds from limited partners including the Harvard Management Company, the University of California and the Verizon Pension Fund. In addition to investing in EcoFactor, CCV investments include Adura Technologies, Gene Security Networks, Shotspotter, and PropertyBridge, that was recently acquired by MoneyGram.
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