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
Three-way tie: Public vote mixes ‘Fan Favorite’ small business honors between meals and more
A trio of Kansas City small businesses is sharing the Honeywell Fan Favorite Award this week after wowing the public during the Chamber’s recent candidate showcase at Union Station. “The rules can be bent,” said Eric Wollerman, president of Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies, announcing the three-way tie in the lead-up to the Greater Kansas…
Avatar for hire (in a few years): Gamified career platform helps kids explore their future in the workforce
It’s a powerful question asked in classrooms every day, Jessica Munoz Valerio said, recalling her own experience with the common prompt and how tapping into and gamifying it could change lives. “When my daughter was young — as early as 5 years old — she got asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’”she…
C2FO helped women-, minority-owned biz access nearly $2B in 2021 alone; why that slice of $200B is set to grow as company approaches $1T funded
Customers of C2FO have accessed more than $200 billion in working capital, the company announced, touting its wide-ranging successes and highlighting pandemic-era growth that has solidified its place as a world leader in the financing space — and a pace-setter for deploying capital to underserved businesses. “From Day 1, C2FO has worked to fill the…
Sporting KC teams with homegrown company to bring biodegradable straws to the Cauldron
Sporting Kansas City announced Tuesday a multi-year partnership with BIOLO as the official home compostable straw of Sporting Sustainability. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Kansas City, BIOLO manufactures bags, mailers and straws that are proudly made in the USA with Nodax – a revolutionary polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer certified to biodegrade in soil, marine and…