Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) start-up, Ecovent, announced this week that it has closed a $6.9 million Series A funding round led by Emerson Climate Technologies, and includes participation from Tamarisc and Blue Fog Capital. The Boston based firm produces intelligent home zoning systems designed to deliver room-by-room climate control.
The company, established through a business incubation program at the MIT, has garnered attention through several entrepreneurial competitions and won a $10,000 award for being the most promising startup out of several fledgling innovation companies from Harvard and MIT in 2014.
At the beginning of this year Ecovent was named Automation Product of the Year at CES 2015, and has since brought in more than $1 million in pre-orders. An Ecovent system with four vents, four temperature sensors, and a wireless control unit including thermostat has a list price of $1,100.
According to the company, its system of wireless vents and sensors intelligently diagnoses the factors impacting room temperature and automatically adjusts airflow into each room to achieve the desired temperature. Ecovent allows homeowners to control the temperature of each room individually through an app, saving energy and money by heating and cooling only the rooms that need conditioning instead of the entire home.
Ecovent says that level of detailed control can help eliminate nagging hot or cool spots in a home, which in turn can lower heating and air conditioning bills by firing up the furnace only when necessary. Eventually, Ecovent says, the system’s computer control unit will be able to learn the patterns and preferences of a home’s residents and automatically adjust the temperature based on what they typically ask it to do.
“Today’s cars allow passengers and drivers to set individual temperatures, yet most homes have only one adjustable zone, and it’s time to change that,” said Dipul Patel, CEO and co-founder of Ecovent. “We developed the Ecovent system to give people room-by-room temperature control in any home — automatically. It’s incredibly exciting to have the support of an industry titan like Emerson to help us bring Ecovent to a larger audience as we change the way homeowners experience comfort in their homes”.
Patel says DIYers can install the ecoVent components in about two hours. Patel hopes to the days of family members having to squabble over the thermostat, or of individual rooms being too hot or cold. "You shouldn't have to adapt to your home", he says.
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For HVAC contractors, Ecovent said it provides a complete, wireless zoning system that is cost effective and easy to install. “With Ecovent, we see the potential to fix an issue that has gone unsolved in the residential HVAC industry for decades” said Bob Sharp, Emerson executive vice president and Climate Technologies business leader. “Ecovent’s ability to function seamlessly in tandem with Emerson’s solutions for home comfort and energy efficiency makes them a natural fit as an investment and strategic partner”.
Ecovent’s new investment round comes as manufacturers of thermostats, kitchen appliances, and other workaday household gadgets are starting to give their products high-tech makeovers, including the ability to connect with smartphones, within the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution in smart buildings. A market that is expected to be worth over $180 Billion by 2020 according to a recent Memoori report The Internet of Things in Smart Buildings.
Ecovent hopes to emulate the success of Nest Labs, who pioneered the smart thermostat and was later acquired by Google for $3.2 billion. The firm will offer more detailed reports on home air quality and energy consumption over time, and will also eventually work with utilities to integrate the system into residential demand-response programs. Watch this temperature controlled space.