#Fireside design ii inc software
#Fireside design ii inc series

We were really impressed with the work that Fast Radius is doing and really walking through the facility saw the future of what manufacturing will look like. We thought “huh, they’re a company here in our backyard we should get to know.” And so we called up Lou and the team and walked over to the office, which was fun for us, we don’t get to walk to a lot of our investments and just got to know the team.

#Fireside design ii inc series

And we saw the announcement for the series B. Obviously, Fast Radius is located here in Chicago as well. Where are their materials coming from? What are those emissions associated with those materials and building their projects? So we’re seeing a lot of innovation. Really then, it’s how do you implement that? What does that mean for these big companies?Īnd so we’re seeing a lot of startups coming to the market that their specialty is helping corporates map out their supply chain, for example. Katie: Sure, it’s interesting, you see a lot of corporates making these big, bold sustainability net-zero goals and plans.

#Fireside design ii inc software

We’re seeing a lot of innovation happening around how you get them to market better, faster, and cheaper.īill: Can you tell me about how software and data give people information about the sustainability choices that they make? And so when you look at building out a large solar project, for example, how do you make the design process more efficient? How do you make the permitting process more efficient? Those are the kind of solutions that we’re looking for and are really excited about.

So what that software can do is help to reduce the soft costs. We’ve seen the costs of the hardware itself come down so dramatically recently that it’s really now the time for software to play a role.

Katie: Sure, it’s interesting to be doing this now because historically, really the cost of things like renewable energy or electric vehicles was really the big barrier. We had 14 companies that we invested in out of fund #1, and those companies range from digital solutions for cybersecurity, electric vehicles and mobility, renewable energy, and really the software layers that help to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy.īill: What is it about digital technologies that enable sustainability? So we are investing out of our second fund now. I’ve been working in sustainability for about 20 years now, and at Energize we invest in companies that have a digital solution to accelerate the energy transition and sustainable industries. Bill: Hi, I’m Bill King, Chief Scientist at Fast Radius, and with me today is Katie McClain, Partner at Energize Ventures.