Today Energy Foundry announced its investment in RedWave Energy, a Chicago headquartered energy harvesting start-up that has the ability to influence a $136 billion market that includes glass and steel manufacturers and electric power generation plants. This marks the successful completion of a $5.5 million investment round lead by Energy Foundry and unlocks a $3.8 million DOE ARPA-E grant. A strong investment syndicate came together to support RedWave, including Northwater Capital, EnerTech Holding Company (A subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait) and PRIME Coalition whose supporters include The Blue Haven Initiative and the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation.
RedWave's core product is a revolutionary new nanoscale film that converts unused waste heat into electricity. Built by world class experts from the pioneering science and technology developed at Idaho National Labs, University of Colorado and premier roll-to-roll manufacturing firm MicroContinuum, RedWave's technology is breaking new ground.
'I'm thrilled to see RedWave Energy move closer to commercialization of an Idaho National Laboratory technology and look forward to seeing this company achieve its fullest potential in the market,' INL Director, Mark Peters, said. 'Turning waste into electricity is an excellent example of ingenuity and entrepreneurialism. Energy Foundry's investment in RedWave also underscores the importance of INL research and development and is an example of how the Lab's vision and technical expertise has global impact.'
Energy Foundry's investment in RedWave represents another example of why Chicago is uniquely positioned to bring energy innovation being built here, and across the country, to commercial application. Producing more energy from the same natural resources will allow industrial and power companies from Illinois and across the globe to improve their profits while also improving their impact on the environment.
'As much as 50% of the natural resources that go into some power plants become waste heat. So the scale of this opportunity is tremendous,' said Jason Blumberg, CEO of Energy Foundry. 'Funding breakthrough technology like RedWave is crucial, and to do it well the company needs to be surrounded by a network of investors, research labs, and customers. Energy Foundry has worked to connect players across the sector and we are excited to bring RedWave into such a network.'
About Energy Foundry:
Energy Foundry invests venture capital to build groundbreaking energy start-ups. Their approach merges investment capital with the perks of strategic partnership, and includes an arsenal of essential tools and relationships to help bring great ideas to market. With the backdrop of Illinois' billion-dollar grid modernization efforts, the investment model is designed to reduce risk and accelerate speed to market for the most promising grid and energy ideas.