Medford, MA – July 20, 2022 – Electrified Thermal Solutions, a provider of on-demand renewable heat for industry to phase out fossil fuels, today announced the closing of its initial financing of $4.5 million. The round was co-led by Clean Energy Ventures, a venture capital firm funding early-stage climate tech innovations, and Starlight Ventures, a venture firm addressing humanity’s greatest challenges and opportunities, with participation from the Grantham Foundation and Clean Energy Venture Group. Electrified Thermal will leverage the funding to grow its core team and accelerate product development to deliver its flagship offering, the Joule HiveTM, to some of the largest global industrial companies.
Nearly 25 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions result from heavy industry, a broad sector that has recently shown strong commitments to adopt innovative approaches to help decarbonize their operations over the next decade. Process heating for cement, steel, chemicals, and other sectors produce some of the highest emissions and are difficult to decarbonize due to their continuous operations and need for heat near “flame-temperatures.”
Most electric heat and storage options today rely on materials that oxidize and burn out in air, requiring them to be frequently replaced or kept in an inert environment to remain usable. To solve this long-standing challenge, Electrified Thermal developed its flagship technology, the Joule Hive, to store gigawatt-hours of 24×7 reliable thermal energy as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuel-based heat sources at temperatures required for the hottest industrial processes.
“It’s clear that tackling industrial emissions with innovative technology is emerging as the next-big focus in meeting global climate goals,” said Daniel Goldman, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Clean Energy Ventures. “After assessing dozens of companies approaching this challenge, we believe that Electrified Thermal Solutions has developed a best-in-class technical solution at very low cost, allowing the company to unlock profitable industrial decarbonization. Industries such as cement, steel and chemicals represent a massive opportunity to scale the technology and achieve carbon reduction impact at the gigaton scale in the coming years.”
“The plummeting price of renewable energy and uncertain fossil fuel pricing makes this the perfect time for industries to switch to electrified heat, but there are no good options for this today,” said Matias Mosse, Co-founder and Managing Director of Starlight. “Electrified Thermal has a path to scale quickly with mature building techniques and supply chains.”
Developed after seven years of research at MIT, Electrified Thermal unveiled its first offering, the Joule Hive. The technology leverages a proprietary process that enables electric heating of commonplace oxide bricks, or “firebricks.” Combined as an effective heater, storage medium, and heat exchanger, the bricks can reach nearly 2000°C and have the potential to last for decades, and outperforming current systems available on the market or in development. The Joule Hive is modular and scalable to demand, stacking into larger electrified heating systems that can deliver up to several gigawatts of heat to industrial furnaces, boilers, kilns or power turbines, with storage durations of several days.
“Amid the era of decarbonization, fossil fuels remain the heat source of choice for the needs of industry, simply because the market lacks a viable renewable alternative. At Electrified Thermal, we are dedicated to bringing the most accessible and impactful electrified heating solution to market to decarbonize even the hottest industries and processes,” said Electrified Thermal CEO Daniel Stack. “We’ve begun serious design and siting discussions for piloting the Joule Hive with industry leaders in chemicals and cement production, and we’re looking forward to partnering with Clean Energy Ventures and Starlight Ventures, firms with strong industrial connections and a powerful track record of funding critical technologies combating climate change, to rapidly scale our technology.”
The company will leverage the funding to grow its team while building out a large laboratory prototype outside Boston, MA, and a multi-megawatt demonstration plant to follow.
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About Electrified Thermal
Electrified Thermal is delivering renewable heat across the industrial sector through its flagship product, the Joule Hive™, to enable an evolution in electric heating and storage. The Joule Hive turns intermittent solar and wind energy into on-demand industrial heat, capable of powering even the hottest furnaces, boilers and kilns. Learn more at electrifiedthermal.com.
About Starlight Ventures
Starlight is a venture firm designed to address humanity’s greatest challenges and opportunities. We invest in the brightest entrepreneurs using science and technology breakthroughs to achieve progress at scale. Learn more at starlight.vc.
About Grantham
The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment was established in 1997 by Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham. Grantham invests to redesign our energy systems; to improve soil health; to spare the ocean from acidification; to directly recapture carbon from the atmosphere – and more. Learn more at granthamfoundation.org.
