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§ Private Profile · Redwood City, CA, USA
Cloud platform for residential energy management, analyzing thermostat data to optimize home energy use and prevent HVAC failures.
Based in Redwood City, California, United States, EcoFactor develops a cloud-based analytics platform that optimizes residential energy consumption by processing continuous data streams from connected thermostats, local weather conditions, and specific home characteristics. The company's proprietary software automatically adjusts heating and cooling systems to reduce utility costs and prevent HVAC equipment failures without requiring manual intervention or sacrificing comfort for homeowners. Operating primarily through a business-to-business model, the enterprise enables broadband and home service providers to offer automated energy management as a value-added subscription service to their existing customer bases. Prior to its eventual acquisition, the privately held firm raised $16.15 million in total venture capital funding from lead institutional investors including Claremont Creek Ventures and RockPort Capital Partners. EcoFactor was originally founded in 2006 by entrepreneur John Steinberg, who later brought on Roy Johnson as chief executive officer.
EcoFactor has raised $34.4M across 6 funding rounds.
EcoFactor has raised $34.4M in total across 6 funding rounds.
EcoFactor is a technology company specializing in cloud-based energy management solutions for residential homes, leveraging data from connected thermostats to deliver energy efficiency, demand response, and HVAC performance monitoring services.[1][2][3][4] It builds a SaaS platform that analyzes thermostat data, weather, and user habits using patented algorithms to optimize energy use, achieving over 20% HVAC savings while maintaining comfort, and serves utilities (e.g., NV Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility District), home service providers (e.g., Comcast, Reliant Energy), and homeowners.[1][3][4] The platform solves high residential energy consumption and demand peaks by automating savings, pre-cooling for demand response events, and detecting HVAC issues for lead generation, with strong growth evidenced by partnerships, 36 patents, and $41 million in funding as of 2013.[3][6]
EcoFactor was founded in 2006 in Redwood City, California (later associated with addresses in Palo Alto and Millbrae), as a clean technology startup focused on home energy management amid rising interest in smart home devices and energy conservation.[3][6][7] Key early backers included Claremont Creek Ventures, RockPort Capital Partners, Aster Capital, and NRG Energy, Inc., which supported its development of patented algorithms for thermostat optimization; the latest funding round was $10 million in 2013.[3][6] Pivotal moments include partnerships with utilities like NV Energy for proven energy savings and demand response, and expansion to broadband providers like Comcast, demonstrating real-world traction in scaling services across millions of homes via easy SaaS integration.[3][7]
EcoFactor stands out in the residential energy sector through these key strengths:
EcoFactor rides the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home wave, capitalizing on connected thermostats to unlock residential energy data for machine learning-driven savings amid climate goals and grid strain.[3] Timing aligns with post-2006 growth in smart devices and regulatory pushes for demand response, amplified by utilities' need for cost-effective load management as electrification rises.[1][3] Market forces like rising energy costs, HVAC inefficiencies (targeted for 20%+ savings), and SaaS scalability favor it, influencing the ecosystem by enabling providers to bundle services, increase DR participation, and pioneer data-based efficiency—pioneering how big data transforms homes into grid assets.[2][3][7]
EcoFactor is poised to expand as AI-enhanced IoT proliferates, potentially integrating deeper with emerging smart home ecosystems for predictive maintenance and V2G features, while trends like net-zero mandates and EV-driven demand peaks amplify its demand response edge.[1][3] Its private status and funding history suggest sustained innovation, possibly via new partnerships or acquisitions, evolving influence from niche optimizer to essential grid stabilizer in a decarbonizing world—reinventing home energy savings as effortlessly as its platform automates comfort.[4][6]
EcoFactor has raised $34.4M in total across 6 funding rounds.
EcoFactor's investors include Congruent Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Todd Dauphinais, Nat Goldhaber, NRG Energy, Abe Yokell, Aster Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, RockPort Capital.
EcoFactor has raised $34.4M across 6 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $7.0M Series C in May 2015.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2015 | $7M Series C | — | Congruent Ventures, Wireframe Ventures | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2013 | $10M Series B | — | Congruent Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Todd Dauphinais, NAT Goldhaber, NRG Energy, ABE Yokell | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2012 | $9M Series A | Aster Capital | Congruent Ventures, Wireframe Ventures, Claremont Creek Ventures, RockPort Capital | Announced |
| Apr 1, 2010 | $4M Series A | — | Congruent Ventures | Announced |
| Jan 4, 2010 | $2.4M Venture Round | NAT Goldhaber | — | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2009 | $2M Series A | — | Wireframe Ventures | Announced |