Clean Urban Energy Raises $7 Million To “Turn Buildings Into Batteries”

A Chicago startup Clean Urban Energy (CUE) raised $7 million in a series A round from Battery Ventures and Rho Ventures, the company announced today. CUE's software-as-a-service "exploits the thermal mass of commercial office buildings to make [them] more efficient," according to a company press statement. The software was developed at the University of Colorado , which struck an exclusive, research and development and licensing agreement with CUE in 2008. CUE claims it can lower buildings' energy expenses by 15-30 percent through predictive modeling and optimization. The company can also aggregate energy demand across portfolios of buildings in cities, which means it has the potential to provide more macroscopic benefits...