A downstate Illinois tankless water heating startup that counts well-known companies like Facebook, Google, Marriott and Hilton Hotels as customers is planning to open a new suburban Chicago headquarters early next year.
Intellihot, a clean energy startup that makes commercial tankless water heaters, plans to open a new headquarters in the suburbs in the first quarter of 2020. While the exact location is still being determined, CEO and co-founder Sri Deivasigamani said the company is eyeing space in Vernon Hills, Libertyville or Aurora.
Founded in 2009, Intellihot has been based in downstate Galesburg. It opened its doors at Galesburg’s Sustainable Business Center in 2012, where today it has around 100 employees. Deivasigamani said the company will maintain its Galesburg location as a manufacturing facility once the suburban headquarters is open.
The new location will start with around 20 employees and expects to grow to 50 over the next two years. New roles will include sales, marketing, financial services and engineering jobs. It will also feature a product showroom and customer training center where companies can interact and learn about the water heater first-hand.
Intellihot is profitable, Deivasigamani said, and is growing quickly. The startup holds over 60 patents, and it's backed by the Clean Energy Trust and Hyde Park Angels.
Intellihot’s commercial water heaters have taken off with top brands who rely on the technology to cut down on costs, greenhouse emissions and storage space by allowing them to eliminate extra storage tanks that have traditionally been used to heat water. Its app also allows companies to monitor and control their water heater from their phone.
Other Intellihot customers include SpaceX, Costco and Levi’s Stadium in the Bay Area. The startup also has a license agreement with NASA to power its entire product line with combustion burner technology developed by NASA for aircraft engines.
Deivasigamani said Intellihot can work with everything from 20-unit condominiums to Las Vegas-style hotels.
“(Hot water) is a critical part of your business,” he said. “A hotel can’t open its doors. A restaurant can’t operate … Hot water is needed by everybody. And the technology that powers that is almost 100 years old.”
Intellihot’s solution provides hot water on demand, giving customers hot water only when they need it. Its solution eliminates waste and cuts down greenhouse emissions by 40 percent, the company says.
“The mission is to transform how business is done, how water is heated, and how it is delivered,” Deivasigamani said.
