On Wednesday, Dandelion Energy, the fast-scaling U.S. home geothermal energy startup, announced that it has successfully closed a Series B venture capital round of $30 million. The round was led by climate mega-VC Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), along with existing investors including GV, NFA, Lennart Corporation, Collaborative Fund Building Ventures, Catchlight Ventures and GroundUp.
This latest round, which brings Dandelion’s total venture funding to date to $65 million, will enable Dandelion to expand its operations and R&D investment. The company was hothoused at Google parent company Alphabet’s X lab (popularly known as “The Moonshot Factory”), before launching as an independent company in May 2017.
Lead investment from Breakthrough Energy Ventures–the $2 billion climate-driven umbrella venture capital fund started by Bill Gates and a consortium of very well-capitalized private investors–is a signal achievement. BEV has more than $2 billion in committed capital behind entrepreneurs in emission reduction across the industry verticals of agriculture, buildings, electricity, manufacturing, and transportation. BEV’s strategy links government-funded research and patient, risk-tolerant capital to bring transformative clean energy innovations to market as quickly as possible. Other Breakthrough Energy Ventures portfolio companies include decarbonized concrete maker CarbonCure and emission-free metals producer Boston Metals.
“Breakthrough Energy Ventures is the leading climate tech investor, and we could not be more thrilled to welcome them to Dandelion,” said Dandelion CEO Michael Sachse. “We always knew that geothermal was the single best thing you can do for your home from a sustainability perspective. Dandelion has proven that geothermal is a cost-effective option for consumers that can be delivered at scale. Now we look forward to partnering with BEV and our existing investors to expand our reach, deepen our research and development, and bring sustainable heat to the millions of homes that need it.”
“Through a combination of technology, data and operations, Dandelion is making geothermal heating and cooling cost-effective for the residential market, and working to solve a critical need for homeowners and our energy ecosystem,” said Carmichael Roberts, longtime materials investor, co-founder and managing partner of impact fund Material Impact, and leading group member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Per Dandelion, more than 70 percent of home energy usage in the U.S. comes from heating, cooling and water heating. The company’s proprietary Dandelion Geothermal Heating & Cooling System is said to reduce individual home carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent, and to generate significant household cost savings by eliminating the need to buy gas, oil, propane, or electricity to heat their homes. Dandelion’s business model aligns federal, state and utility incentives to allow homeowners to upgrade to geothermal for less than the cost to currently heat and cool their home: a value proposition that they say has a total addressable market of 28 million U.S. households.
In January 2020, the company completed a Series A-1 funding of $12 million, wrapping up a 12-month period that saw the company triple its customer base and employee headcount.
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