Skip to main content

Deck.blue brings a TweetDeck experience to Bluesky users

With over 3 million users and plans to open up more broadly in the months ahead, Bluesky is still establishing itself as an alternative to Twitter/X. However, that hasn’t stopped the developer community from embracing the project and building tools to meet the needs of those fleeing the now Elon Musk-owned social network, formerly known […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/TBbEAPF
Post a Comment

Sealed will eat the cost of decarbonizing your home if it can’t cut your energy waste

If you own a home, Sealed has a heat pump to sell you. The Manhattan-based startup, which helps homeowners replace their oil- and gas-gulping heating systems via an unusual financing model, has secured an additional $29.5 million in a new deal led by property-tech investor Fifth Wall. Other investors, including Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition and CityRock, also chipped in.

Heat pumps work by moving heat around, directing it inside or outside your home depending on whether you’re trying to cool down or stay warm. They’re more efficient than their fossil-fueled counterparts, but costly to install, which is where Sealed’s model kicks in. The firm covers installation and weatherization costs upfront, billing homeowners monthly based on the energy they save. That means Sealed only gets paid if it succeeds in cutting down energy waste.

The startup’s big bet is on its machine learning algorithms, which “really accurately predict a home’s future energy usage,” CEO Lauren Salz claimed in a call with TechCrunch. Sealed’s predictions aren’t flawless; sometimes the startup loses money on a contract, sometimes it profits, “but we can balance it out by holding a portfolio of homes,” Salz said.

To handle the actual installation, Sealed relies on existing heat pump hardware and connects its customers to a network of contractors, who reduce energy waste via upgrades such as air sealing, insulation, and LED bulbs in addition to heat pumps. It’s all “very tried and true technology that’s been around for decades,” Salz added.

While theoretical solutions to the climate crisis—such as sucking carbon out of the sky at scale—seem to hog the spotlight, the tech that’s needed to tackle climate change is already here, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in its April report. At the utility level, this means replacing fossil fuel-burning power plants with renewables. Yet this won’t rid homes of fossil fuels unless individual homeowners also ditch oil and gas heating.

Nine-year-old Sealed aims to accelerate that switch in the U.S., using its new funds to expand outside the Northeast for the first time, starting with Chicago. The firm also intends to double the size of its team to around 200 staffers by the end of the year. The $29.5 million deal elevates Sealed’s preexisting $16 billion series B to a total of $45.5 million, and it is “definitely a big, big up round,” per Salz. The startup’s valuation now sits in the nine figures, the CEO added, declining to share more.



from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2cKEdUl
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nimbus launches tiny EV prototype that’s like a motorbike with a roof

As shared e-scooter companies have infiltrated cities and e-bike sales have soared, micromobility has been offered up as a panacea to save us all from the ill humors and packed streets caused by gas-guzzling cars. However, one of the major roadblocks in front of well-intentioned city dwellers who’d love to trade in their cumbersome and environmentally unfriendly vehicles for an e-bike or scooter remains: What happens when it rains? Nimbus, a California-based electric vehicle startup, wants to solve that problem with a simple solution: Put a roof on it. The company recently came out of stealth with a prototype for its Nimbus One, a tiny, three-wheeled EV that “combines the convenience and cost of a motorbike with the safety and comfort of a car.” The Nimbus One. Image Credits: Nimbus The thin, pod-like vehicle is only about 2.75 feet wide and 7.5 feet long, which Nimbus says makes it three to five times smaller than a compact car — the better to park and navigate busy urban stree...
Post a Comment
Read more

Coinbase Q2 earnings exceed estimates, signaling potential market recovery

Coinbase reported its second quarter earnings Thursday afternoon after the bell, beating market estimates. During Q2, the second largest crypto exchange by trading volume generated total revenues of $707.9 million, down from $772.5 in the previous quarter and $808.3 million in the year-ago quarter. It also had a $97 million net loss and generated a positive adjusted EBITDA of $194 million during the quarter. It was a mixed bag of estimates from analysts prior to the earnings report. Some expected lower results, while others were optimistic . But now crypto bulls and company shareholders alike can breathe a sigh of relief. “One year ago in Q2 2022, we started reducing our expense base to operate more efficiently. One year later, we’re proud to say that our quarterly recurring operating expenses have dropped nearly 50% Y/Y,” the company said in its Q2 2023 shareholder letter . In after-hours trading, shares of Coinbase rose 7% to about $96.70 after its earnings were posted, but re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Silicon Valley goes to war

At Andreessen Horowitz’s recent American Dynamism summit, Hadrian founder and CEO Chris Power painted a picture of the country in peril. “I’m here to talk to you about an existential risk to the future of the Republic and how Hadrian is trying to solve it,” he began . His words – a mix of rationalism and Marcus Aurelius – were not out of place at the event, which brought together a blend of investors, founders, policymakers and other Washington officials to discuss issues facing the country. A notable number of talks were related to defense and national security, in line with the American Dynamism team’s investment portfolio, which includes bets on defense tech startups like Hadrian, Anduril and Shield AI. Just a few years ago, many investors thought that cutting a check for a defense-first startup was a proposition that simply didn’t make sense. The tides have clearly shifted: a16z is one of many firms that’s taken a stronger interest in defense and national security. PitchBook data...
Post a Comment
Read more