This startup in Detroit turns to the supply company to make the efficiency upgrades for home connection

Ask a homeowner: renovation projects are not fun at all. From the search for an contractor to the determination of a fair price, the process is full of uncertainty.

Many start -ups have appeared to help home owners combat electrification projects, including the installation of solar collectors and the exchange of gas stoves with heat pumps. But they still have problems with the question of costs: winning customers is often more than half of the fight.

Pearl Edison believes that the answer is service programs.

“As much as everything, we use their brand value and their trust,” said Evan Anderson, co -founder and CEO of Pearl Edison, to Techcrunch.

Investors bought into the idea. The startup based in Detroit has collected a seed round of $ 3.3 million from New System Ventures and Commonweal Ventures, the company said exclusively to Techcrunch. Lightbank and Newlab took part.

Pearl Edison works with supply companies to identify customers who benefit most of energy, including heat pumps and additional insulation. It builds a white marked website for the utility and helps the larger organization to carry out campaigns to hire people for energy efficiency upgrades.

The company uses a number of data sources to design a job and generate a price that guarantees the customer. After his software has created a first draft of the plans, she sends out workers to check everything in front of the area before the design is completed.

It then sends the jobs to checked contractors who complete the installation. Pearl Edison earns money with the installations itself and estimates that the majority of these jobs will cost less than they quote them. Homeowners should also save money, said Anderson, because Pearl Edison can forgive the job for less contractually because the installers do not have to waste time to win customers.

The company has already set up programs with two supply companies, DT Energy in Michigan and Duquesne Light in the Pittsburgh region and a government, the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Anderson said the company would add two other supply companies this year.

“We found them as a good partner,” said Anderson.