Sealed built a business around predicting energy use and getting homeowners off fossil fuels. So, naturally, the company’s first acquisition is a startup that tracks energy at a granular level.
Sealed did not disclose the terms of the agreement, but said in a declaration that picking up Burlington, Vermont-based InfiSense would help it “reduce energy waste in the home.”
Based in Manhattan, Sealed finances and oversees electrification upgrades, such as replacing oil or gas furnaces with electric heat pumps and insulation. Ridding homes of fossil fuels can lower energy bills, reduce household emissions and improve your health. You may have seen this topic in the news recently, because possible stove regulations are now the latest critical point in a culture war over clean energy.
Until then, InfiSense sensors and software monitor air quality as well as energy use in buildings, and Sealed plans to share this type of air quality data with customers in the future.
Sealed is unique in covering installation and weatherization costs up front. Instead, it charges a flat fee based on energy that its machine learning algorithms predict homeowners will save over time. If Sealed underestimates a home’s energy use, it eats up the cost, hence the need to refine those predictions.
The “lifeblood of our company is our ability to predict people’s energy use over time, and that depends on great access to data,” co-founder and CEO Lauren Salz said on a call with TechCrunch. . Sealed’s algorithms are currently based on monthly utility energy data, but bBuying InfiSense will give you “access to a deeper level of customer data,” Salz said.
Sealed plans to install the InfiSense sensors in some of its customers’ homes, but Salz said it won’t require them. The data Sealed collects will inform your predictions and allow you to offer curious customers an up-close look at your energy use and air quality.