BOULDER, Colo. (March 15, 2022) – Copper Labs, a technology provider that unlocks real-time grid-edge data for gas, water and electric utilities, announced $5.5M in Series A financing led by Clean Energy Ventures (CEV), a venture capital firm funding early-stage climate tech innovation, with follow-on participation from National Grid Partners and Blue Bear Capital. With the new round of funding, Copper Labs plans to grow its sales, engineering and marketing teams over the next year to accelerate adoption nationally across utility territories. In addition to the funding, Copper Labs welcomes Nora Mead Brownell, Clean Energy Ventures Venture Partner and former FERC Commissioner, to its board of directors.

Utilities are trying to earn customer trust via personalized experiences while simultaneously grappling with an increasingly decarbonized, decentralized and digitized grid. Copper is a patented solution that provides utilities with revenue-grade, real-time intelligence without the need for expensive overhauls that take years to start delivering value.

“For water and gas utilities that can only access meter data every thirty days, or electric municipal and cooperatives that lack the resources of larger investor-owned utilities, Copper and our partners deliver an affordable path to a smarter grid by leveraging existing meters and data backhaul networks, with or without smart meters. Data is the key to building a more resilient grid and engaging the right consumers at the right time to create load flexibility,” said Dan Forman, CEO of Copper Labs.

Sharing Copper Labs’ disruptive vision for grid modernization is its newest board director, Nora Mead Brownell, who previously served as Commissioner at FERC and president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), and today is the co-founder of Espy Energy Solutions, an energy consulting firm and a Venture Partner with Clean Energy Ventures.

“The Copper Labs team is on a mission to help utilities plan for a future with strained and limited resources all while recreating delivery systems fit for purpose. I’m excited to support the team as they empower customers and partner with mature industries adapting to rapidly changing externalities for a more sustainable future,” Brownell said. 

CLICK HERE to read the full press release.

Company Description:
We are an early growth-stage company in the smart home/smart grid/IOT space and are the undisputed leader in our category (smart water heater control); see https://aquanta.io/.

Your Profile

• Entrepreneurial in your approach with the ability to deliver creative, high-quality and self-directed work
• Highest ethical and work standards
• Broad range of communications skills, CXO to entry-level personnel
• Have a great "engine" – work with a sense of urgency and accountability
• Customer-service driven
• A balanced mix of technical knowledge in supply chain management to go along with business acumen (understand the macro and micro-economic drivers of a business)
• Desire to get in at an early stage and help grow a world-class company

Job Responsibilities

• Own entire supply chain for manufacture of Aquanta's products (procurement to fulfillment)
• Manage relationship with existing contract manufacturing partner, including addressing component availability and sourcing
• Understand and own regulatory requirements (UL; FCC; international, electrical codes)
• Work with internal product, technical and customer-facing teams to define component specifications and cost parameters for new product iterations
• Manage inventory, logistics, product tracking and return systems (in- or outsourced)
• Work with marketing and BD to provide appropriate forecasting and ensure inventory
• Maintain quality assurance measures, metrics, and tracking
• Build and lead customer support function (depending on candidate experience)

CLICK HERE to read the full job description and to apply.

Powerful new functionality optimizes work order efficiency with straight-through processing to customers' work order solutions platforms.

SAN MARCOS, Calif., March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Encycle Corporation, a software technology company focused on helping commercial enterprise level utility customers dramatically improve the efficiency of their HVAC systems using IoT-enabled services, announced today that it has added a new rooftop unit (RTU) fault detection notification tool that sends HVAC system fault analysis results directly to its customers' work order solutions platforms. Swarm Sentinel™ is part of the company's Swarm Logic® energy-saving software recently upgraded to include Swarm IQ™ automated RTU fault detection of entire building and enterprise-wide portfolios.

With Swarm Sentinel, Encycle customers can now receive Swarm IQ actionable intelligence at the work order software of their choice. Swarm IQ data is rich in detail, unambiguous, and precise, giving building managers or service providers all the information they need to investigate, schedule, and resolve the identified HVAC unit's performance problem.

"The HVAC industry operates largely in a reactive mode to building discomfort and operational issues," said Steve Alexander, Encycle President and CEO. "As a data-driven company, Encycle is revolutionizing the industry by autonomously predicting savings opportunities and operational failures. Our Swarm IQ fault detection platform is already deployed on thousands of HVAC units. Swarm Sentinel closes the loop by providing work order enablement for our customers and their service providers, helping increase the availability and performance of equipment and boosting maintenance efficiency," Alexander added.

CLICK HERE to read the press release.

Robert Chiste, Encycle's leader since 2015, to assume Executive Chairman Role

SAN MARCOS, Calif., March 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Encycle Corporation, a software technology company focused on helping commercial enterprise-level utility customers dramatically improve the efficiency of their HVAC systems using IoT-enabled services, announced today that it has named Steve Alexander as President and CEO effective March 1, 2022. Mr. Alexander succeeds Robert Chiste, who served as the company's CEO since 2015. As part of the transition, Mr. Chiste will join Encycle's Board as Executive Chairman.

Mr. Alexander has been Encycle's President and COO since 2015. Together with Mr. Chiste, he has led Encycle through tremendous growth, establishing strategic partnerships with building control OEMs and utility program and service providers to deliver specialized HVAC energy-saving technologies to business customers.

"Steve is an experienced industry leader who offers the knowledge, experience, and talent to continue advancing Encycle as a holistic provider of energy savings, fault detection, and decarbonization solutions for the HVAC industry," said Mr. Chiste. "He has been instrumental in expanding the adoption of our unique Swarm Logic® energy-saving technology across multiple markets and introducing our automated fault detection capabilities," Mr. Chiste added. "This transition provides the continuity for Encycle to deliver on its transformative approach to energy management."

Mr. Alexander has extensive executive experience in high-growth businesses, including inventory management software, solar products, and energy services companies. He has bolstered Encycle's ability to support its customers' HVAC maintenance operations through recent software upgrades, shifting them toward more proactive and preventive practices.

CLICK HERE to read the press release.