Ecobee Raises $47 Million to Top Off Massive Series C Round
One of Canada’s quickest-growing tech hardware companies has announced a new milestone in funding.
Ecobee has raised $47 million of additional capital to add to their $80 million Series C round the Toronto company raised in early March. This brings the total funding round to $127 million, one of the largest raises by a Canadian tech company this year. When ecobee first announced that $80 million, they also said they had planned to raise an additional $50 million, so this newest money fulfills that goal.
This new round was led by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), AGL Energy Ltd. and Business Development Bank of Canada. The announcement also brings a few new key additions to the ecobee executive team, including Jackie Poriadjian-Asch as Chief Marketing and Revenue Officer (having come from retailer Canada Goose), Scott Cleaver as Chief Operations Officer (coming from Rakuten Kobo), and David Brennan as Chief Financial Officer.
“Ecobee began as a few engineers on a mission—to give people a smarter way to control their homes’ energy usage in a way they had never before thought possible,” said Stuart Lombard, founder and CEO of ecobee. “That’s why we created the world’s first smart thermostat. Now, this round of funding will allow ecobee to continue transforming the way consumers control their homes as we build the world’s first home operating system that leverages voice, advanced sensor technology and powerful AI.”
ecobee CEO and founder Stuart Lombard.
The new additions to ecobee’s executive board provide the company with a vast amount of experience in retail marketing, finance and operations, as Poriadjian-Asch, Cleaver and Brennan bring a combined 70 years of tenure in those fields.
“Ecobee has a bold vision, entrepreneurial spirit and most importantly a relentless pursuit of excellence,” said Poriadjian-Asch. “This company is committed to being truly revolutionary and pioneering in the way it approaches everything from its culture to its products. All these things combined make it an irresistible opportunity. It’s a privilege to join this team and support ecobee’s continued success.”
As a smart thermostat maker, ecobee is locked into a battle with two of the largest hardware companies on the planet: Honeywell and Google. Ecobee is second in market share and this latest Series C funding addition is primed to boost them up the ladder and become number one in the space. They launched the flagship ecobee4 last November and have been expanding further into the smart home market with sensor light switches.
Ecobee’s goal of dominating the smart home world got a big boost over the last few years with the addition of Amazon as a funder, meaning the thermostats began to install and offer virtual assistant Alexa as a base feature.
The Toronto company also champions environmentalism and giving back to the community. Their Donate Your Data program allows users to anonymously share thermostat data with environmental scientists so they can develop technology and research to better protect the planet. Ecobee has also donated hundreds of thermostats to the City of Toronto to give low-income housing units better control of their energy costs.
