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Home energy software startup 257 closed a $9.2 million seed round, co-founders Scott Rosenberg and Tal Chalozin tell Axios.

Why it matters: The sector has largely missed out on data-related consumer improvements.

Zoom in: The funding was co-led by Israeli VC firm F2 Venture Capital and angels, including Cloudera-founder Jeff Hammerbacher, energy executive Michael Fallquist, clean energy investor Otto von Troschke and Gil Golan, former General Motors CTO and head of GM Ventures.

CEO Rosenberg previously built Roku's media business, and CTO Chalozin co-founded adtech startup Innovid, which went public and was acquired for $525 million.

The adtech entrepreneurs wanted to use their deep backgrounds in leveraging large data to influence consumer behavior.

The residential energy market has "not been transformed by data and AI in the way that so many of our other consumer experiences have been, and the repercussions of that are pretty dire," says Rosenberg.

How it works: 257 uses AI and machine learning to create a digital twin for the energy profile of every U.S. home.

That data then is used to make predictions about home energy needs and determine if they might benefit from solar panels or heat pumps, or might be inclined to join a utility program.

Businesses buy the software to enable them to target customers more effectively.

Fun fact: The co-founders named 257 after 257 Pearl Street, the address in downtown Manhattan where Thomas Edison created the first electrical power plant in North America in 1882.

Zoom out: Beyond innovations like Nest's learning thermostat or Opower's behavior-changing bills, the sector has largely missed out on data-related consumer improvements.

Consider the ease with which you can rent an Airbnb or book an Uber, says Rosenberg. "These are experiences that are seemingly very local but have been dramatically digitized and transformed. Our belief is that that same thing can be done in the residential energy space."

257's angel investor Hammerbacher famously lamented over a decade ago: "The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads." 257's co-founders decided their adtech chops could apply here.

The bottom line: Despite the cooling in climate-focused VC funding, investors remain interested in backing AI startups in the energy sector, whether for mining, the energy transition, or electric grids and natural gas pipelines.

Exclusive: Home energy AI startup 257 raises $9.2M

The co-founders seek to apply adtech learnings to home energy.

Illustration of an electrical outlet with a 1 and zero for holes

Home energy software startup 257 closed a $9.2 million seed round, co-founders Scott Rosenberg and Tal Chalozin tell Axios.Why it matters: The sector has largely missed out on data-related consumer improvements.

Exclusive: Home energy AI startup 257 raises $9.2M

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