🔦 Spotlight
Does it feel like your power goes out more and more these days?
You’re not crazy - it actually does. Incidence of power outages has increased almost 20% in the years 2013 to 2021, from about 1.2 per household per year to over 1.4.
While that might not be noticeable to the average person, the average duration of power outages has increased by over 100%(!) from around 3.5 hours to over 7 hours.
And that isn’t the only problem with the electrical grid in California. The creatively (and aptly) named, duck curve is another.
Source: Energy Information Administration
Amazingly, California now generates so much energy during the day from solar, that the the net load (how much power is being consumed vs. produced) is actually about zero during the middle of the day, but the load spikes in the evening and remains high until the next morning. This means if you have rooftop solar panels, the energy you sell back to the grid during the day isn’t worth much, and you’re still reliant on grid power in the evenings when the sun isn’t shining.
To solve both the outage issue and the duck issue, LA-based Haven Energy wants to put batteries in your home, and the message seems to be resonating with both customers and investors. Haven just announced a $7M Series A, led by Giant Ventures, with participation from a number of other funds, including Lerer Hippeau and Comcast Ventures.
So what does Haven actually do?
For consumers, Haven is the all-in-one resource for adding batteries to your home. Whether you have solar panels on the roof and want to store some of that power for when it’s most valuable, or you just want to protect yourself from blackouts, Haven will walk you through which battery system makes the most sense for your home, connect you with professional installers and electricians, and manage the process from end to end.
For installers, the company offers both customer leads and a software solution to manage the sales, installation, and payment processes.
Haven was founded by former Casper execs, Philip Krim and Jeff Chapin, alongside former Uber leader Vinnie Campo.
🤝 Venture Deals
LA Companies
- LA-based Haven Energy, a tech enabled battery installer, raised a $7M Series A from Giant Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, Comcast Ventures, and others - learn more
- Newport Beach-based Compa, a compensation data provider, raised a $10M Series A led by Storm Ventures, with participation from Penny Jar Capital, Indeed Ventures, NJP Ventures, Base10 Partners, and Acadian Ventures - learn more
LA Venture Funds
- Clocktower Technology Ventures co-led a $20M round for Benepass, a NY-based employee benefits platform - learn more
- Mucker Capital led a $7.5M Seed Round in Roofer.com, a Dallas-based roof scanning startup - learn more
- MaC Venture Capital participated in a $14.75M equity/debt round for Chef Robotics, a SF-based commercial kitchen robot startup. Other investors in the round include Kleiner Perkins and Construct Capital, among others - learn more
- House of Ventures participated in a $23.2M round for Transmutex, a Swiss nuclear engineering startup. The round was led by USV and Steel Atlas - learn more
Actively Raising
- ReelCall, Inc., an entertainment technology company focused on powerful apps and platforms that help build and maintain the professional network of connections vital to career growth, is raising a $850K Pre-Seed Round. - learn more
- CZero, a startup building software to decarbonize logistics for logistics businesses and goods business through a vetted marketplace and optimization software. - learn more
- Couri, a technology startup addressing last-mile delivery issues, is raising a $450K Pre-Seed Round at a $2.2M post money valuation. - learn more
- Sweetie, a marketplace to help people plan date nights, is raising a $1.5M Pre Seed Round. - learn more
- StartupStarter, an investment platform that provides real-time data and analytics on startups, is raising an $850K Angel Round. - learn more
If you’re a founder raising money in Los Angeles, give us a shout, and we’d love to include you in the newsletter!
