Dandelion Energy, which provides emissions-free heating and cooling services for homes, has closed a $40 million Series C led by Google’s GV Management Company. Other participants included New York’s Collaborative Fund, Florida homebuilder Lennar Corp.’s LenX, Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Dallas, Texas-based NGP.
Spun out of Alphabet’s X unit in 2017, Dandelion, which provides so-called geothermal services, was initially led by Kathy Hannun, a Stanford University engineer and computer scientist. Since 2018, it has been led by Dan Yates, previously a co-founder and CEO of Opower, which claimed to be the largest U.S. residential clean energy company. In 2016, Oracle bought the Virginia firm for over $500 million.
Clean Energy Incentives
Originally headquartered in Mount Kisco, N.Y., Dandelion relocated to Arlington, Va., earlier in September. Dandelion has raised more than $130 million from investors since emerging out of Alphabet.
“Dandelion is becoming the preferred partner — nationwide — to the country’s largest home builders and multifamily developers as they shift to building fully electrified homes,” said Yates, who in his LinkedIn profile claims Opower’s impact was “equivalent to building a second Hoover Dam…using software and behavioral science instead of concrete and steel.”
Dandelion has reportedly installed geothermal systems in over 2,000 new homes in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. It relies on clean energy incentives provided by the Inflation Reduction Act to help homebuilders install geothermal systems at affordable cost.
R&D Is Key
“Builders are choosing Dandelion geothermal because it’s the highest quality and least expensive option for building heating and cooling,” said Erik Nordlander, general partner at GV and a board member at Dandelion. “Dandelion’s efficient, scaled operations give the company a unique position in the market.”
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Dandelion says it is making geothermal installations increasingly simple and cost-effective, besides enhancing its product line. It recently launched Dandelion Geo, a heat pump the company claims delivers the highest heating performance measured by industry standards organization AHRI.
“Dandelion is leading the geothermal industry in research and development. Their steady drum beat of product innovations promise a future of affordable, ubiquitous, geothermal heating and cooling across the country,” said Craig Shapiro of the New York-based Collaborative Fund.
Dandelion also announced the recent induction of Lauren Howard, a former Airtower Networks executive, as its chief revenue officer.
