Geothermal startup Dandelion has raised a $2m in a seed round funding led by Collaborative Fund and includes ZhenFund and Borealis Ventures.
After two years in X, Alphabet’s “moonshot factory”, Dandelion has set up as an independent company (outside of Alphabet) to be led by Kathy Hannun and James Quazi. While at X, Kathy, now CEO of Dandelion, led a team that investigated how to make geothermal systems more affordable and accessible to homeowners. James, who formerly founded a home improvement company that was sold to SolarCity, will lead Dandelion’s technology development.
In the U.S., buildings account for 39% of all carbon emissions, and the majority of these emissions come from heating and cooling. Dandelion's solution will cost consumers around half of what geothermal installations have cost to date and be less expensive than fuel oil or propane heating.
Home geothermal systems harness thermal energy from below the earth’s surface to heat and cool homes and produce hot water. The system pumps heat away from the home into the earth during summer to keep the home cool, and pumps heat from the earth into the home in winter to keep the place warm.
Kathy Hannun, CEO of Dandelion, says, “We started this project because we realized millions of homeowners are using expensive, truck-delivered fuels because they don’t have access to better options today. We knew if installing a geothermal heat pump was a simpler and more affordable process, these homeowners would have access to a better product that’s also better for the climate.”
“There is a macro shift in the economy towards businesses that can align the self interest with the broader interest,” says Craig Shapiro, Founder and Managing Partner at Collaborative Fund. “Dandelion’s business model enables homeowners to make the sustainable choice the most economic choice, which is a powerful combo.”
Dandelion’s low-cost geothermal installations are available for zero down for qualifying homeowners, enabling many homeowners to begin saving on monthly heating and cooling expenses immediately by switching to geothermal. The system will provide homeowners with renewable heating, cooling, and hot water and include monitoring and a smart thermostat. Dandelion is now operational in the New York Hudson Valley and Capital Region.