Media and automotive services conglomerate Cox Enterprises has invested $20m in US-based energy efficiency technology provider Carbon Lighthouse to lead a $32.6m funding round that closed on Tuesday.
The company did not disclose the identity of the other investors in the round, which followed a $27m round in March 2018 featuring JCI Ventures, heating and air conditioning equipment producer Johnson Controls’ corporate venturing arm.
Carbon Lighthouse provides energy efficiency services to buildings, using sensors to ascertain their base energy use and then modelling thousands of possible changes through its proprietary software in order to determine the best route to cutting energy.
The capital will be used to enhance Carbon Lighthouse’s automation and artificial intelligence technology while scaling its software development, data science and engineering teams.
Cleantech-focused fund GRC SinoGreen led the March 2018 round, which included Ulupono Initiative, SV Tech Ventures and angel investors Steve Girsky and JB Straubel. The company has not revealed details of earlier funding.
Brenden Millstein, Carbon Lighthouse’s co-founder and chief executive, said: “We need to do work that is highly profitable for clients and ourselves, otherwise there is no way to scale large enough and quickly enough to stop climate change.
“As we continue to double year-over-year for the next many decades, we are grateful for existing investors and new partners like Cox Enterprises who are committed to growing companies for long-term impact.”
