Our Investment in Specifx: Intelligent HVAC Management for Building Electrification
We’re thrilled to announce our new investment in Specifx, a data science company helping to usher in the era of commercial and industrial building electrification. The company builds software that delivers visibility, context, and insights into HVAC (heating, ventilation, and cooling) asset portfolios. The platform is designed for large owner-operators and service providers, helping users understand and optimize their HVAC investments and carbon footprints at enterprise-scale.
Specifx has built a unique capability to instantly provide asset-level detail for nearly any type of commercial HVAC equipment. No longer will building owners have to resort to tedious, error-prone, and manual data acquisition and data management efforts, or rough estimates for repairs and replacement. Specifx’s cutting-edge technology is also automating strategic, enterprise scale applications that rely on this data such as compliance reporting, capital planning, asset lifecycle management, and energy modeling.
This investment is part of our investment thesis in electrification software — electrification of mobility, buildings, industry and enabling grid agility given all of the new demand. Check out the series of electrification episodes in our Mission Driven podcast.
With the HVAC industry globally worth an impressive $230 billion and $91 billion in the US alone and accounting for some 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, Specifx addresses an enormous market and climate impact opportunity. The US market for HVAC service and repair is valued at a staggering $32 billion. Furthermore, the HVAC software market is expanding at a remarkable rate of 9.1% annually, and is projected to reach $2.4 billion by 2026. In this immense market, Specifx is poised to emerge as a game-changing player.
The Specifx team is composed of talented individuals all with well-established reputations in the real estate / energy efficiency sectors. Ryan Martineau, CEO previously co-founded and served as EVP of Sales at Kleiner Perkins-backed Redaptive, a leading Efficiency-as-a-Service provider in the C&I sector. Pete Shimkus, Chief Product & Strategy Officer, was formerly a Managing Director at CBRE, where he led and scaled Sales for their turnkey project development business unit. Ryan and Pete initially collaborated selling HVAC optimization programs for F500 clients — and then partnered with Ben Patch, Chief Data Officer, to specialize in HVAC asset data retrieval and enrichment. Ben created Specifx’s core offering (Decoder) and is an expert in HVAC product data, having previously co-founded Enerfit, an HVAC retrofit manufacturer. Finally, the team added Ellie Crowley, COO, who led Sales Solutions and Account Management at Redaptive, and was a former investment banker in the Global Industrials Group at Credit Suisse.
The impact of Specifx extends far beyond the boundaries of the HVAC industry, for it is poised to be a catalyst in the fight against climate change. Through Specifx, companies can gain valuable insights into their asset operations, and make informed decisions to reduce their carbon emissions. With Specifx, companies can more efficiently plan for replacement and maintenance, audit and update equipment data, and engage in energy use modeling. The company’s innovative approach promises to usher in a new era of sustainability, where energy efficiency is no longer an afterthought, but a top priority.
Specifx is an innovative, game-changing solution led by a strong, visionary team, with a massive market opportunity and a huge potential impact on the environment. By empowering companies to understand their HVAC equipment and reduce energy usage, Specifx is leading the charge towards a greener, more sustainable future.
