Loci Controls, a startup that is developing smart technology for the extraction of methane from landfills, has closed a seed funding round. The seed series includes investments by CommonAngels Venture Fund, Launch Capital, and several prominent angels in the Boston area. The funding will be used to commercialize the company's technology for automating and optimizing the harvesting of methane from landfills.

Methane gas is generated as the organic waste as a landfill decomposes, and the gas is collected with a vacuum extraction system. The collected gas can then be processed and used as fuel to generate electricity, which can be used on site or sold to the grid. Loci Controls develops control hardware and software to monitor the gas characteristics and optimize the performance of the gas extraction system.

The company is targeting late April for its first full deployment, in collaboration with the Crapo Hill Landfill and CommonWealth Resource Management Corp. in New Bedford, MA. Scott Alfonse, the Executive Director of the Crapo Hill Landfill, said 'As a landfill operator, effectively managing landfill gas is key to both our revenue stream and to maintaining good relationships with our neighbors. We are pleased to have served as a test site for Loci since 2012 and excited to continue this work.'

Going forward, Loci will also use its seed investment to enhance its proprietary control algorithms, grow its team, and deploy at additional landfills across the northeast. The company was recently awarded a grant under the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center's Catalyst program to further advance the commercialization effort.

Founded by two MIT alumni, Andrew Campanella (BS '05, MS '13) and Melinda Hale (PhD '13), Loci was initially funded and incubated at Bolt (www.bolt.io), a seed-stage fund in Boston that invests capital, personnel, equipment, and expertise in hardware startups. Bolt provides access to a high-end prototyping shop, support from a full-time engineering/design staff, and assistance with manufacturing/commercialization and seed capital.

About Loci Controls

Loci Controls is dedicated to building products and delivering services that make a difference in the clean tech world. We provide a hardware-enabled service to help harvest and optimize energy production from landfills through automated monitoring and control of landfill gas collection. With the Loci Controls solution, revenue from landfill gas-to-energy plants is increased, risk of noncompliance is mitigated, and odor complaints can be instantly addressed.