ecobee Inc. has closed a US $61 million or CDN $80 million Series C round of financing led by Energy Impact Partners with participation of Thomvest, Relay Ventures, and the Amazon Alexa Fund, North Leaf Capital Partners, Export Development Canada (EDC), Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC), Tech Capital, and GXP Investments.
Barclays served as financial advisor for this transaction.
ecobee intends to use new funding to build upon its suite of smart home technologies connected by whole-home-voice control, sensor technology and artificial intelligence.
The Series C brings ecobee’s total funding to approximately US $146 million. ecobee’s investors also include Carrier which made a US $[mepr-active rule=”374″ ifallowed=”hide”]#where and how did you get your news? Subscribe today to see our research on this and all other subscriber ONLY news. Be informed.#[/mepr-active][mepr-active rule=”374″]10[/mepr-active] million strategic investment in January 2015.
“Our goal is to build a home that learns and anticipates your needs, making your home an intelligent space that simplifies your life rather than complicates it,” said Stuart Lombard, President and CEO of ecobee. “We believe that by building voice capabilities, advanced sensor technology and powerful A.I. into the operating system of your home, we are helping to create a new computing platform. This technology will transform the way consumers interact with their favorite services for the better.”
In 2017, ecobee introduced the ecobee4 smart thermostat with built-in Amazon Alexa voice control. Later this month, ecobee will launch its Alexa-enabled smart light switch, ecobee Switch+, bringing the power of voice and intelligence to every room.
ecobee’s smart thermostats measure temperature and occupancy in up to 32 rooms of the home. This technology increases comfort by solving for hot or cold spots in the rooms that matter most. It also helps homeowners save energy by adjusting settings based on occupancy. To date, ecobee customers have saved an estimated three terawatts of energy which is equal to preventing 2.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. This would be the same as taking the city of Pittsburgh off-the-grid for a year.
“ecobee is one of the fastest-growing connected home companies and a leader at bringing voice into the home,” said Lindsay Luger, Partner at Energy Impact Partners who will be joining the ecobee Board of Directors. “Their product suite delivers comfort, ease and entertainment, while at the same time reducing costs and environmental footprint by optimizing what usually represents half of a homeowner’s electricity bill.”
“We’re excited to continue our support of ecobee through participation in its Series C financing and our broader work together across a number of important Alexa capabilities,” said Paul Bernard, Director of the Alexa Fund at Amazon. “ecobee is a leader in driving the adoption of voice in the smart home and continues to innovate through the creation of new products like the ecobee4 smart thermostat and ecobee Switch+, both of which have Alexa built in.”
Energy Impact Partners (EIP) is a private equity firm that strategically invests in innovative technologies, services, and products throughout the electricity supply chain from generation to consumption. EIP’s utility partners include Southern Company, National Grid, Xcel Energy, Ameren, Great Plains Energy, Fortis Inc., AGL, Avista, MGE Energy Inc., TEPCO, PTT Public Company Limited, OGE Energy Corp., TransCanada, and Alliant Energy.
photo credit: ecobee