aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
aVenture is in Alpha: aVenture recently launched early public access to our research product. It's intended to illustrate capabilities and gather feedback from users. While in Alpha, you should expect the research data to be limited and may not yet meet our exacting standards. We've made the decision to temporarily present this information to showcase the product's potential, but you should not yet rely upon it for your investment decisions.
© aVenture Investment Company, 2024. All rights reserved.
44 Tehama St, San Francisco, CA 94105
Privacy Policy
aVenture Investment Company (“aVenture”) is an independent research platform providing information and analysis about startups.
Certain metrics provided by aVenture may seek to assess the risks and opportunities associated with a company, fund, or its representatives (collectively “research”). aVenture seeks to provide this information with objectivity and fairness, and with diligence about its accuracy. Nonetheless, aVenture cannot provide assurance as to the accuracy of the information provided by our research. We strongly advise those using the research platform to seek multiple, independent sources for your research when making financial decisions.
Any links provided to other websites are offered as a matter of convenience and are not intended to imply that aVenture or its authors endorse, sponsor, promote, and/or are affiliated with the owners of or participants in those sites.
The aVenture platform also provides investment listings offered by independent investment advisers in the United States. aVenture is neither a registered investment adviser nor an exempt reporting adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and no statements made by aVenture are intended to imply any financial instruments are under the counsel or advice of aVenture or its representatives.
Funds offered on the platform are generally managed by a private investment adviser that, unless stated otherwise, claims exemption from SEC or state registration. Investment funds presented on the platform are only available to investors who meet the requirements of the offering, and solicitations are not made outside those listed jurisdictions.
Additionally, each investment offered on the platform has qualifications for eligibility, including some offered only to Qualified Clients and/or Accredited Investors. Certain funds may be available to non-Qualified or Accredited investors, but only those who become personally known and identifiable to aVenture Investment Company staff, who have had an opportunity to assess the financial capacity and suitability for such an investment, and discuss its risks. Funds, when offered, are only offered following a review of a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), subscription agreement, and other disclosures.
Investments in startups, venture capital, angel investments, private equity, real estate, stocks, and similar asset classes all involve risks, including: the risk of a decline in the value of your investments, including potentially large declines (suddenly and/or for long periods of time), the potential for illiquidity where part or all of a withdrawal request may not be honored on the date requested (even when a feature of the fund). These risks are heightened during periods of market duress.
Diversification has the possibility of reducing the magnitude of declines (either caused by market/economic factors, or by factors related to the individual company), but does not guarantee these risks have been fully or partially alleviated. Most importantly, past results are not an assurance of future outcomes. While most of these risks are shared and similarly held by other investment asset classes, we recommend investors only consider venture capital investments as part of a broader, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, and immediately accessible cash reserves.
From Startups | TechCrunch
By Tim De Chant
April 16, 2024
Heat pumps are having a bit of a moment. They outsold gas furnaces for the second year running, and homeowners who install them are eligible for thousands in incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. But they’re not growing quite as fast as they perhaps could be. Getting consumers to adopt new technology isn’t always easy, especially when it’s something as fundamental as heating and cooling.
Consumer hesitancy has been on the top of Paul Lambert’s mind as he navigates bringing Quilt’s new heat pump to market.
“No matter where someone is coming from today, what situation they’re in, we want them to feel like they’re upgrading,” Lambert, co-founder and CEO of the startup, told TechCrunch.
Heat pumps are just different enough from existing heating and air-conditioning setups to give many consumers pause. Some of it is the design: The most common installations use mini-splits on the inside of the house, which are basically big plastic appliances that hang high on the wall. Not exactly something you might proudly show off to your friends.
Quilt says its heat pump will address those concerns, promising a sleeker design that can be installed in more places around a room than competitors’ offerings. The company has only released a teaser image so far. It looks promising, but we’ll have to wait until it unveils the finished product on May 15 to pass final judgment. The company engineered the core of the system in-house, though it’s working with a manufacturing partner to produce the units.
Design isn’t the only challenge facing traditional heat pumps. Many customers have been turned off by the way they operate. In most homes, a single mini-split (known as a “head”) handles both heating and cooling for a single room. Each head gets its own thermostat or remote, which means if someone wants to adjust the temperature for the whole house, they need to visit every room.
Instead, Quilt has centralized the controls for its system. Each room still gets a head, which also has a way of sensing the temperature, but users only need one physical control to adjust set points throughout their home. As an alternative, they can also use Quilt’s app.
“If you have that thermostat in your bedroom and you want to make sure you turned off the living room or you want to change the temperature in the children’s room or whatever, you just swipe over to that room and do it from the thermostat,” Lambert said. If tweaking individual rooms isn’t your cup of tea, “you can also set a temperature for the entire house from the thermostat.”
Quilt’s control setup hints at a level of integration that most consumer heat pumps don’t offer.
“It’s kind of like a mesh network for Wi-Fi, where they’re all working together to heat and cool the house,” Matt Knoll, co-founder and CTO, told TechCrunch. “But then they have all the control in each space, too.”
In addition to the usual thermostat, each Quilt head has a millimeter-wave occupancy sensor. Most heat pumps include passive infrared sensors, which tend to send false vacancy signals when someone isn’t moving, like when they’re watching TV or sleeping. Quilt’s sensor doesn’t suffer from that problem. The company’s software uses data from these sensors to map the room to determine when people are present, but Lambert points out that it doesn’t create an actual image.
“We’re not putting a camera in anyone’s homes. These are just signals on a graph that when interpreted just says there’s a person here or there isn’t,” he said. “It gives us a lot of confidence around when rooms are empty or not, which means we can not waste energy heating and cooling empty rooms.”
In anticipation of its forthcoming product introduction, Quilt has raised a $33 million Series A round led by Energy Impact Partners and Galvanize Climate Solutions with participation by Garage Capital, Gradient Ventures, Incite Ventures, MCJ Collective, Lowercarbon Capital, and Drew Scott from “Property Brothers.” It’s a hefty raise given that it announced a $9 million seed round less than a year ago.
The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its marketing efforts and installer capacity. Quilt’s heat pumps will roll out in a few regions initially before expanding further. “It’s kind of like we’ve built this core R&D organization; now we’re turning into a real company,” Lambert said.
View original article on techcrunch.com
Share:
SeekOut, a recruiting startup last valued at $1.2 billion, lays off 30% of its workforce
The company says it's refocusing and prioritizing fewer initiatives that will have the biggest impact on customers and add value to the business. © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 20, 2024
Fintech lender Solo Funds is being sued again by the government over its lending practices
SoLo Funds CEO Travis Holoway: “Regulators seem driven by press releases when they should be motivated by true consumer protection and empowering equitable solutions.” © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 20, 2024
Disrupt Audience Choice vote closes Friday
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is not just about groundbreaking innovations, insightful panels, and visionary speakers — it’s also about listening to YOU, the audience, and what you feel is top of mind for the tech community. With the Disrupt 2024 Audience Choice Program, your vote can make a difference and propel your favorite thought leaders to […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
May 20, 2024
Don't miss our latest news and updates. Subscribe to the newsletter