Gradient Ventures has been investing at the forefront of artificial intelligence since 2017. We are led by former founders, technical experts, and domain specialists, who know how to take an idea to product-market-fit and beyond. Gradient Ventures is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information, visit www.gradient.com.

Gradient Ventures

Lowercarbon Capital funds research and invests in technologies to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. The world has ignored the scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs who are pursuing solutions to lower emissions, remove carbon, actively cool the planet, and save human, animal, and plant life.

Lowercarbon Capital

Incite Ventures is a service provider to start up companies which cater financial, strategy, capital, and advice from a group of experts.

Incite Ventures

Garage Capital is a venture capital firm focused on Canadian companies.

Garage Capital

Climate Capital is an investment firm that supports companies that directly or indirectly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate Capital

Spacecadet is The Marketing VC, fueling a better future with a mix of money + marketing expertise.

Spacecadet Ventures

Leblon Capital

MCJ Collective drives collective creativity for climate solutions by breaking down silos and unlocking problem-solving potential.

MCJ Collective

Founded in 2015, CSC Upshot Ventures is an early-stage venture fund focusing on providing seed capital to technology companies at scale. The firm seeks to invest in companies operating in the enterprise, artificial intelligence, healthcare, Fintech, and the marketplace. In close partnership with AngelList, CSC Upshot Ventures built a new model of venture investing based on the needs of founders, investors, and startup communities.

CSC Upshot

Energy Impact Partners LP (EIP) is a global venture capital firm leading the transition to a sustainable future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking energy and industrial companies to advance innovation. With over $2.5 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit, and infrastructure.

Energy Impact Partners

Galvanize Climate Solutions provide the capital, and partnerships necessary to produce and scale vital and urgent climate solutions.

Galvanize Climate Solutions

Quilt

Quilt is a smart home climate solution company that develops home temperature control technology for energy efficiency. The company's AI-driven systems blend into any home environment, offering room-by-room control, occupancy awareness for energy efficiency, and predictive technology to create an advanced and comfortable system.

Quilt is a smart home climate system that utilizes ductless heat pump technology to heat and cool homes efficiently. It consists of sleek indoor units designed to blend seamlessly into any interior environment, offering customizable front panels in white oak or white finishes. The compact indoor units, measuring under eight inches in height, can fit discreetly above windows or doors, featuring integrated accent lighting and quiet operation.

Quilt is a heat pump system that’s pretty smart

Quilt – Our Story

Quilt – The smartest way to heat and cool your home

Quilt Raises $33M to Launch the Smartest Way to Heat and Cool Your Home

Quilt Launches the Smartest, Most Efficient Way To Heat and Cool Your Home

Quilt: merging smart home tech with stylish HVAC systems

Quilt launches whole-home heat pump system with "thoughtful design"

Quilts

ICYMI: Watch Quilt’s launch day event!

Smart Homes: Energy & Water Solutions

Quilt raises $9M seed round to become the Nest of heat pumps

Quilt is a smart home climate system that utilizes ductless heat pump technology to heat and cool homes efficiently. It consists of sleek indoor units designed to blend seamlessly into any interior environment, offering customizable front panels in white oak or white finishes. The compact indoor units, measuring under eight inches in height, can fit discreetly above windows or doors, featuring integrated accent lighting and quiet operation.
The outdoor units boast a modern, architectural matte black finish and are designed to be space-efficient. Quilt's advanced technology includes millimeter-wave radar sensors for accurate occupancy detection, enabling room-by-room climate control and energy optimization by heating or cooling only occupied areas. The system employs predictive algorithms and thermal modeling to precondition temperatures efficiently based on weather forecasts, occupancy patterns, and home characteristics.
Quilt offers elegant control through the Quilt Dial, a stylish touchscreen remote, and a user-friendly mobile app for iOS and Android. The system meets industry-leading energy efficiency standards, including Energy Star Most Efficient 2024, SEER2 25, and CEE Tier two ratings. In May 2024, Quilt was acquired by a company aiming to accelerate the transition to sustainable home climate solutions.

Swell Energy is a provider of virtual power plant (VPP) programs that aggregate and optimize distributed energy resources (DERs) such as rooftop solar and battery storage systems. The company's GridAmp software platform utilizes AI and machine learning to coordinate these DERs across the grid, intelligently meeting fluctuating energy demand. This helps utilities deliver cleaner and more reliable energy to customers while reducing dependence on fossil fuel peaker plants.
Swell partners with utilities, customers, and third-party service providers to create VPPs. Through these programs, customers receive bill savings, compensation (GridRevenue), and enhanced energy security. In return, their solar-powered batteries are integrated into a network that supports grid reliability, stability, and potential cost reductions for utilities.
As of November 2022, Swell had contracted 600 MWh of VPPs across 26,000 energy storage systems in homes and businesses throughout the US. These VPPs provide grid services in utility territories like Hawaii, California, and New York. In Hawaii, Swell's 80 MW VPP helps the utility maximize wind energy utilization by storing excess wind power in customer batteries.
In December 2022, Swell partnered with Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to launch a residential VPP program aiming for 20 MWh and 10 MW of renewable capacity initially, with potential to scale up to 54 MWh and 27 MW.
In February 2024, Swell acquired residential and commercial solar installer Renu Energy Solutions, expanding its footprint across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic markets. The combined company aims to drive innovation and provide tailored clean energy solutions through Renu's project development capabilities and Swell's financing and VPP technology.

Swell Energy

ZOLA Electric is a leading emerging market energy technology company that aims to eradicate energy inequality globally. The company's roots trace back to Tanzania, where its founders observed communities lacking access to reliable and affordable energy sources, relying instead on dirty, expensive, and difficult-to-manage forms of energy like diesel, kerosene, and lead-acid batteries.Over a decade ago, ZOLA began by installing smart, connected lithium-ion batteries and solar systems to power basic energy needs such as lighting for rural communities. This approach of deploying networked, connected devices has driven the energy transition in emerging markets. Today, ZOLA has developed the world's first enterprise technology platform, purpose-built for energy access markets, combining a family of products controlled by a single operating system, ZOLA Vision.ZOLA's technology platform enables community-level electrification by facilitating localized solar energy production and providing smart technology with remote management tools. The platform is designed to deliver reliable, affordable, and clean power to the 3 billion people and hundreds of millions of businesses globally that lack access to it.Since its inception in Tanzania, ZOLA has expanded its operations to 10 countries across four continents, delivering affordable, reliable, and clean energy to over 2 million people, along with numerous schools, clinics, and businesses. In December 2022, the company launched its platform in Haiti, partnering with local renewable energy pioneer Haiti Green Solutions to address the country's energy crisis. This marked ZOLA's first market entry into North America.In November 2022, ZOLA commissioned a 120 kWp distributed solar mini-grid system in the Nyagatare district of Rwanda, providing power to over 1,000 homes, businesses, and institutions in the villages of Gakagati I and II. The project, developed using ZOLA's modular INFINITY technology, received support from organizations like Facebook (now Meta), the Shell Foundation, USID, and Endev.

Zola Electric

1KOMMA5° is a carbon-neutral energy systems provider based in Hamburg, Germany. The company offers proprietary energy IoT systems, including "Heartbeat," an intelligent energy management solution that optimizes home energy usage in response to fluctuations in energy prices. This technology allows users to achieve significant cost savings by automatically utilizing renewable energy sources like solar power when electricity prices are lowest.
1KOMMA5° operates a virtual power plant that networks and pools customers' photovoltaic systems, electricity storage, heat pumps, and charging columns, enhancing the profitability and efficiency of these interconnected systems. The company's business model involves investing in electrical sector companies focused on photovoltaic systems, charging infrastructure, and heat pumps, providing them with software solutions, centralized services, bundled purchasing, growth capital, and equity stakes in 1KOMMA5° Holding.
In June 2023, the company acquired the Danish solar company Viasol A/S. As of October 2023, 1KOMMA5° had the capacity to convert 500,000 buildings per year to climate-neutral power generation, heat, and mobility solutions. It operated over 65 sites with around 1,500 employees across Germany, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Denmark, Spain, and Australia.
1KOMMA5° offers a dynamic electricity tariff called "Dynamic Pulse," which guarantees customers the lowest and cleanest electricity at a maximum of 15 cents/kWh for two years. The company's solar modules, produced sustainably in Germany, generate electricity at approximately five cents/kWh, ensuring cost savings and inflation-free energy for over 30 years.

1Komma5°

Bboxx is a UK-founded data-driven platform that provides African consumers with access to innovative products and services, including plug-and-play solar home systems (SHS), solar-powered water pumps, clean cooking solutions, smartphones, and e-mobility solutions. The company utilizes its proprietary fully integrated operating system, Bboxx Pulse, combined with an extensive on-the-ground network to connect customers with these life-changing offerings.Bboxx's core products are solar-powered battery boxes designed for households, enabling users to power small appliances like lights, mobile phones, refrigerators, and computers. The company follows a pay-as-you-go business model, allowing customers to pay for what they use through mobile money, making it affordable for low-income individuals. As of 2020, Bboxx had positively impacted over 3.6 million lives across Africa by providing access to clean energy and other essential products.In September 2022, Bboxx acquired solar home system provider PEG Africa, consolidating its leading position in the market and expanding its geographical footprint to Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Mali, bringing its total operating markets to 10 countries. As of 2023, Bboxx's products were actively used by over 643,000 people, resulting in better lighting, improved connectivity, and the mitigation of more than 65,000 tCO2e emissions through the replacement of kerosene lanterns and other fuels.In March 2022, Bboxx launched the Flexx product line, consisting of a portable solar lantern and a multi-light system with charging ports, aimed at serving rural customers at the bottom of the energy pyramid in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Bboxx

Aquion Energy was a Pennsylvania-Washington D.C. based company that manufactured proprietary Aqueous Hybrid Ion (AHI) batteries and energy storage systems. These saltwater batteries used sodium ions and employed widely available materials like carbon, cotton, saltwater, and manganese oxide as the primary inputs. Aquion's technology was optimized for stationary and long-duration daily cycling applications such as off-grid systems, microgrids, energy management, and grid-scale energy storage. The non-toxic and safe nature of the batteries, combined with their ability to be fully discharged without harm, made them suitable for renewable energy integration and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Aquion aimed to provide low-cost and sustainable energy storage solutions.
In March 2017, after facing financial difficulties, Aquion Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and ceased operations, sales, and manufacturing. The company was subsequently acquired by a Chinese-affiliated entity, Juline-Titans LLC, for USD 9 million in June 2017. Following the acquisition, Aquion closed its Pennsylvania plant in September 2017 and reportedly moved operations to China with the new owners intending to scale up by targeting larger commercial clients.

Aquion Energy

Companies that develop advanced energy generation technologies for houses (mostly solar).

Companies that develop battery storage solutions for home use.

Companies that develop real-time energy usage and efficiency monitoring solutions and generate energy reports. Includes companies that offer demand management solutions to monetize excess capacity.

Companies that offer water leak detection sensor systems and smart sprinkler systems.

Companies that assist home improvements (related to energy optimization) by bearing the upfront cost and charging users monthly fees based on energy usage.

Uses AI/ML to monitor and provide recommendations on energy and water usage

Focuses on achieving sustainability through renewable energy, saving and storing excess energy, etc.

Quilt

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