Idle Smart earns $125K in national clean energy program
December 1, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Idle Smart recently was dubbed a top clean-energy firm and won some substantial investment capital for its technology.
Based in Kansas City, Kan., the company was voted by its peers as the top firm in the Energy: US 2016 program, nabbing $125,000 for its smart thermostat device for fleet vehicles, such as semi-trucks. The company’s device only kicks the truck on when necessary to maintain the temperature of the cabin, recharge batteries or create engine warmth, thus saving fuel and mitigating environmental impact.
To win the program, nine startups ranked each other in a peer-selection process and named Idle Smart as the top firm. The Autonomous Tractor Corporation won second prize and $100,000.
Village Capital, the New Belgium Family Foundation and Sustainable America awarded Idle Smart the funds. As part of the program, Idle Smart also received mentoring from industry experts and potential investors.
Founded by CEO Jeff Lynch in 2012, Idle Smart is based in the Kansas City Startup Village and owns a patent on its smart thermostat tech. In July, Startland News named the company as one of its top under-the-radar startups in Kansas City.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
What’s Kansas City doing at SXSW 2017 this year?
March is about to get weird. Startland News is once again returning to the weirdness of Austin, Texas, for the annual insanity that is the SXSW Conference. Like last year, we’ll be venturing to the Lone Star State to report on the Kansas City contingent at arguably the nation’s top conference for innovative ideas: South-by-Southwest…
Olathe-based Flow Forward raises $1M for vascular device
After completing a preclinical study, Olathe-based Flow Forward Medical nabbed another round of capital for its vascular device. The firm raised another $1 million from a group of unnamed, individual investors, bringing the firm’s total raised to $7 million. Flow Forward created the AFE blood pump system, which is designed for temporary use to quickly…
Park Hill toured the country for its new innovative learning program
The Park Hill School District is introducing a new approach to learning that aims to cultivate more innovative thinking among its students. Starting in Fall 2017, Park Hill conceptualized the LEAD Innovation Studio, a high school in which students will focus on project-, problem- and professional-based learning. The studio aims to not only address growing…
International coworking firm WeWork taps Crossroads for big space
WeWork, an international coworking firm with offices in 37 cities and 12 countries around the globe, is snagging four floors in Kansas City’s Corrigan Station for a new 40,000 square feet space. With locations in Hong Kong, London, Buenos Aires, New York City and many others, the cosmopolitan coworking company will occupy the third through…