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When I first spoke with Troy Harvey, founder of independent building technology company Passive Logic, we spent more than an hour on the phone—mostly because it took me that long to start piecing together exactly what he was doing. .
For years, Harvey and Jeremy Filigi have been brainstorming about how to fit a new technology platform to address energy efficiency in what Harvey describes as the complex human constructs: buildings.
A high-end vehicle can have up to 30 electronic systems and 100 sensors (think parking sensors or fuel temperature sensors). But some commercial buildings have 500,000 inputs and outputs, Harvey says. And no single technological system controls them. Thermostats, pumps, boilers, evaporative coolers — you name it — are all working separately without talking to each other, and consuming that much more energy.
To address those inefficiencies (and with the goal of saving 30% of the building’s energy consumption), Passivlogic’s four-person team is building a platform that gives buildings level five autonomy—artificial intelligence used to facilitate millions of different control paths. The technology is designed to work in the background, controlling every function of an industrial or residential building without the human input required by smart devices. PassiveLogic is testing the technology with an early set of customers, and plans to begin shipping its first product early next year, Harvey said, declining to comment on the initial contracts. The company plans to sell its cloud services primarily for buildings with an app store.
PassiveLogic’s funding started pouring in from VCs in late 2020. That October, Keyframe Capital Partners and Addition led a $16 million Series A round for the company. A $34 million Series B round earlier this year, and an additional $15 million in April, by Brookfield Growth, the investment arm of real estate giant Brookfield Growth, is one of the companies now working with PassiveLogic. Harvey told me earlier this year that he now spends “a good bit” of his week making calls to incoming investors.
But interest from venture investors has come recently. “Five years ago, we were at the idea stage with a little prototype technology, and we went up and down Sand Hill Road,” says Harvey, explaining that venture capitalists said, “I don’t get it.” Interestingly, that’s the sentiment I’ve heard from other founders pitching complex, innovative technologies.
It was the Department of Energy that put the most pressure on the technology’s capabilities, Harvey said, adding, “The government is a big part of how we got to this point.” The Department of Energy funded the company’s initial technology development with a grant that PassiveLogic used to develop its digital twin technology, which can digitally describe building spaces, systems and occupants and automate control systems.
Now that the technology is nearing its first deployment and PassiveLogic is working with Brookfield and Amazon warehouse owner Prologis, DOE is funneling $1 million to the startup for a two-year partnership between it and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). . They plan to conduct research and develop deep artificial intelligence to improve the energy efficiency of four million buildings by 2030. year.
An important part of the project is that PNNL will provide open source generic code libraries for other industry stakeholders (control companies or engineering companies) to integrate the software into their own workflows. Chief Data Scientist.
The framework is “not specific to buildings,” Vraby told me. Her team of data scientists and computer engineers are thinking about what the predictive technology could mean for many application areas and complex energy systems.
Harvey may be the founder of a product that’s still on the market, but he’s a force to be reckoned with when it comes to failure.
For him, that means more people available to hire, and, more importantly, cleaning up the supply chain. Bottlenecks from the outbreak forced PassiveLogic to stockpile parts it didn’t need for another three years. Those timetables are shrinking, says Harvey.
But Harvey says he’s ready for venture capital dollars to start flowing into more transformative projects, rather than “lightweight” technologies that generate quick profits.
“Investment in real technology is lower than it’s been in 40 years,” Harvey said later, adding: “I think it’s going to be a cleansing cycle for some of the features that are somewhat profitable.” But it doesn’t make much sense.
After all, while Harvey initially struggled to explain to VCs what his team was building, it didn’t take long for the mechanical and electrical engineers, installers, and technicians to get the idea—especially if you ask Jon Arfman, whose company it is. , TEC Systems, manages technology systems for 250 buildings primarily in New York City, and was involved in testing PassiveLogic’s product. Arfman points out that passivelogic predictive control technology is still a ways off from widespread deployment, but he’s optimistic and very excited about what he’s seen so far.
“When I first met Troy, I couldn’t believe it was him. [could] Pull all this. But if he can pull off 50 percent, it’s going to change our entire industry, Arfman says.
until monday,
Jessica Matthews
Twitter: @jessicakmathews
Email: jessica.mathews@fortune.com
Submit contract for Term Sheet newspaper over here.
Jackson Fordyce reviews today’s newsletter deals.
Venture offers
– IDRxA Boston-based clinical-stage cancer treatment biopharmaceutical company has raised $122 million in Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz And Kasdin Capital They led the round and participated including investors Nextech Invest, Create life science partnersAnd so on.
– PayThe Kansas City-based digital government services and payment platform has raised $90 million in funding Macquarie Capital Principal Finance.
– Orange EVThe Kansas City-based EV maker raised $35 million in financing S2G Ventures And CCI.
– Arena AIThe New York-based independent operating system platform provider has raised $32 million in Series A funding. Initiated capital And Goldcrest Capital They led the round and participated including investors Peter Thiel, General David Petraeus, Michael Siebleand other angels.
– MosesThe San Francisco-based employment and tax compliance platform has raised $18 million in Series A funding. Canaan He led the round and participated including investors Gusto, SempervirensAnd charge.
– LockThe Los Angeles-based photo-sharing gadget has raised $12.5 million in funding. Sam Altman He led the round and participated including investors Sugar capital, Costanoa Venturesfounder of Instagram Mike Krieger, CEO of Quora Adam D’AngeloAnd so on.
– step upNew York-based multichain liquid staking protocol, has raised $6.7 million in seed funding. North Island V.C, Distributed GlobalAnd Pantera Capital The round was joined by investors including: Imperator, Cosmostation, Everstake, Parking facilities, 1 Confirmation, Cerulean Ventures, Cross V.C, Peak capitalAnd Road capital.
– Sportsbox AIBellevue, a Wash.-based 3D motion capture technology company, has raised $5.5 million in seed funding. EP Golf Venture.
– GlambookBerlin-based SaaS beauty platform raises $2.5M led by Endel CEO Vlad Pinsky.
– ClutchA Houston-based digital marketplace company has raised $1.2 million in early seed funding. Prior Ventures He led the round and participated including investors Capital factory And HearstLab.
– RoofA Santiago, Chile-based solar energy marketplace has raised $1 million in seed funding. Positive venture And Cooperative Fund The round was joined by investors including: Harvard Business School Rock Center Accelerator, Harvard Innovation Labsand Chile’s former Minister of Energy Juan Carlos Jobet .
Personal equity
– Akelalfasupported Century Parkobtained Consult FronteraOracle cloud consulting services provider based in Hong Kong, London and New York. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– High vision capital obtained Wilmar, a Vernon, California-based meatpacking company. Financial terms were not disclosed. Under the terms of the agreement, Wilmar will merge with Hyview’s portfolio companies; Randall’s Foods.
– Thompson Street Capital Partners He got the majority share Recovery benefit groupA Memphis-based subservice provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Exits
– Siemens obtained Brilliant softwareCary, NC-based asset management and facility operations management SaaS provider, from Clearlake Capital Group for 1.875 billion dollars.
other
– I believe Agreed to get it. ChemoCentryxSan Carlos, California-based rare disease biopharmaceutical company, for $3.7 billion.
– Gilead Sciences Agreed to get it. MiroBioAn Oxford, UK-based biotech focused on autoimmune health, about $405 million.
– Densu team He got the majority share ExtensionsPune, India based mobility, cloud engineering and UX technology and services firm.
– The roof of the roof obtained RentPrep, a Lancaster, NY based tenant screening firm for landlords. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Topia obtained Pearl Global Tech, a San Francisco-based immigration risk engine and knowledge base. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
– Burjeel HoldingsThe Abu Dhabi-based healthcare provider plans to raise at least $750 million in an initial public offering in Abu Dhabi this year, according to Bloomberg.
SPAC
– Bridger Aerospace Group HoldingsBozeman, Mont. , Inc., a provider of aerial firefighting services, has agreed to go public in a merger with Jack Creek Investment Corporationthe SPAC deal values the company at $869 million.
– PlasticThe San Francisco-based payments provider has agreed to go public in a merger with Colonnade Acquisition Corp. IIthe SPAC deal will cost the company about $480 million, including debt. Kleiner Perkins, B Capital GroupAnd Khosla Ventures Return the company.
Funds + grants
– High level capital partnersThe San Francisco-based investment manager has raised $925 million of late for a fund focused on climate technology investments.
– Hypopost CapitalThe New York-based private investment firm has raised $535 million for a fund focused on the consumer sector.
People
– AE Industrial Partners, Boca Raton, Fla. A private equity firm, introduced Nathan Thick stone To Managing Director and Head of AEE Industry Partners Aerospace Opportunities Fund.
– KickstartCottonwood Heights, a Utah-based venture capital firm, was hired Kat Kennedy As a general partner. She was with him before. Degree.
– TSG Consumer PartnersA private equity firm based in San Francisco, introduced Drew Wellbacher to the manager.
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