Big Money for Smarter Buildings
New York City is drowning in energy costs, and landlords are looking for a lifeline. A Stamford-based company called Novele just announced it raised $17 million in Series A funding to fix how we power our commercial buildings. This isn’t just another tech startup cashing out; it’s a serious move to make our real estate smarter and more efficient.
Boisei Labs led the oversubscribed round, with backing from Arup Ventures and Barton Malow, according to the announcement. The goal is simple: stop wasting power and start using data to run things right. If this tech works, it could save property owners millions and keep rents from skyrocketing due to utility bills.
The Tech Behind the Raise
Novele combines AI software called BoardOS with physical energy storage hardware known as EnergyBoard. They relaunched in 2023 after starting in 2015 to focus on net-zero goals. Their system learns how a building uses energy by looking at weather, occupancy, and time of day. It doesn’t just guess; it predicts.
Charles Conwell, the CEO and co-founder, told Commercial Observer exactly what they are trying to do. “Our goal was always to make buildings intelligent and utilize energy storage to do that,” he said. The money will help them grow from the mid-Atlantic to a national presence, expanding their engineering and deployment teams.
They aren’t the only ones playing in this space. EliseAI just raised $350 million, showing that investors are pouring cash into proptech. But Novele’s specific focus on the physical energy grid gives them a unique edge in a city where every kilowatt counts.
Here is the real talk: New York City has some of the oldest and most energy-hungry buildings in the world. We need to modernize, or we will keep paying more for less. This investment signals that the market is ready to pay for efficiency. It’s a shift from just talking about green energy to actually installing the systems that make it work.
For the average New Yorker, this means the potential for lower operating costs for commercial spaces.
