Turntide Technologies Raises $80M With Investments From Breakthrough Energy Ventures And Robert Downey Jr.'s FootPrint Coalition Ventures

SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Turntide Technologies ("Turntide"), the company responsible for the Smart Motor Systemtm and the Optimal Efficiency Motortm with digital DNA, today announced the completion of an $80 million funding round, bringing the company's total funding to date to $180 million. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and includes investments from Robert Downey Jr.'s FootPrint Coalition Ventures, the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Keyframe Capital, Fifth Wall's Climate Technology Fund and Captain Planet LP.

The electric motors powering our world today account for half of global electricity consumption - more than lighting, heating, and electronics combined. As our climate changes and economy grows, the global demand for electric motors will continue to rise. With this new funding, Turntide plans to expand development and production of its Smart Motor System to meet growing demand and extend it into new applications.

"Our investors recognize the critical role that technology will play in our fight against climate change. To curb the carbon emissions driving this crisis, we all need to change the way that we use energy. That starts with modernizing the technology that is currently powering our world," said Turntide's CEO and Chairman, Ryan Morris. "With the support from our investors, Turntide will increase production of our Smart Motor System and ramp up motor retrofitting to provide cost-effective and energy-efficient motors to businesses around the world."

Turntide's Smart Motor System is designed around its revolutionary switched reluctance motor (SRM) technology. SRMs have been used for decades in environments that demand 100% dependability. But recent advances in supporting technologies have permitted Turntide to develop a patented, cloud-connected SRM that can power anything, using a fraction of the energy of the legacy AC induction motors in 98% of the world's machines.

Funding will also be used to accelerate deployment and advance development of Riptide, a cloud-based building automation software platform that Turntide recently agreed to acquire. Turntide plans to expand further into building automation by improving and extending the company's Building Operation System ("BOS") platform to office buildings, retail locations, schools, and more.

Last month at the World Economic Forum (Davos), Robert Downey Jr. announced the launch of FootPrint Coalition Ventures as a rolling fund on the AngelList platform, with a mission to accelerate groundbreaking sustainable technologies through both investment and a unique content strategy that aims to turn complex subjects into culture-defining content. "Turntide's technology and approach to restoring our planet will directly reduce energy consumption," said Steve Levin, co-founder of FootPrint Coalition Ventures. "We are interested in supporting companies with innovative and sustainability-focused ideas like Turntide's Smart Motor System. This technology has the potential to improve the planet in a meaningful way, and we look forward to supporting their efforts."

"Turntide's Smart Motor System addresses a huge market with innovation that not only is higher efficiency, but also lower cost," said Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. "The applications for this type of solution are incredibly broad and impactful, and we're proud to be working with the team at Turntide as they revolutionize the motor industry."

"Amazon created The Climate Pledge Fund to support the development of technologies and services that will enable Amazon and other companies to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early?achieving net-zero carbon by 2040," said Kara Hurst, Vice President of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. "We are excited to be both an investor in and a customer of Turntide as they help us on the journey to decarbonize our operations."

"There is no question that a high efficiency electric motor that does not use environmentally destructive rare earth minerals is needed," said Sergey Polikarpov, Managing Partner of Captain Planet LP. "The prophecy of switched reluctance must be fulfilled to preserve the planet."

Companies including Amazon, BMW, Five Guys, Sprouts, and JLL have retrofitted old motors with the Smart Motor System, reducing their HVAC motor energy consumption by 64% on average. Turntide also works with Pacific Energy Concepts, providing their Smart Motor System for HVAC solutions. 

"We partner with some of the best and brightest businesses in North America to help them reduce their environmental impact. Our partners trust that we'll only bring them the very best energy-efficiency solutions to match their sustainability goals with their greater business objectives," said Keith Scott, Founder and CEO of Pacific Energy Concepts. "When evaluating the Turntide Smart Motor System it was clear to us that it provides the most compelling HVAC optimization solution on the market, especially when compared to many legacy solutions currently available. We believe in the revolutionary capabilities of this solution that's why we offer it to our partners."

Previously announced investors in Turntide include Meson Capital, BMW i Ventures, JLL Spark, WIND Ventures, and Tony Fadell's Future Shape.

Learn more about Turntide Technologies and the Smart Motor System at turntide.com.

About Turntide
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Turntide makes the world's most reliable, efficient, and intelligent motor system. Unlike most clean tech products, our switched reluctance motor technology is actually less expensive to own and operate than its conventional alternative. When this revolutionary motor is combined with IoT building automation technology, the result is optimal efficiency. Turntide sells motors in form factors for a number of applications, up to 15 HP. The Smart Motor System advances sustainability goals, saves money, and minimizes maintenance calls. For more information, visit https://turntide.com/ or follow the company on YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Turntide Technologies