A Boulder startup looking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions using what it calls "dynamic windows" has brought on its first major capital round as it prototypes its unique product.
Tynt Technologies, a window technology company that's engineering a smart window for residential homes, announced that it has secured $8.5 million in funds through a combination of private financing and federal grants.
Led by University of Colorado Professor Mike McGehee and his former student, ex-Halio Chief Engineer Ameen K. Saafir, Tynt is building a window solution that allows homeowners to go from clear state to blackout with the click of a button.
Saafir said Tynt is unique in targeting residential customers for its window technology.
“Everything you’ve seen today in smart windows is in commercial, and in niche commercial like airports,” he said. “A lot of that really is because the aesthetics aren’t there, it’s not something you’d put in a high-end home.”
Unlike the commercial options currently available, Saafir said Tynt is developing products that have a completely neutral color.
“Everything out there is bluish when it's dark and yellow when it’s clear,” he said.
As it transitions out of CU Boulder, Tynt has raised $7 million in funding across angel and seed financing rounds. The most recent injection of capital was co-led by Prime Impact Fund and Starlight Ventures, with participation from Kompas Ventures. The company was also awarded $1.5 million in grant funding from the Department of Energy’s Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) program.
With this money on board, Saafir said Tynt is focused on developing a prototype of its dimming technology. Currently, the company is working with 4-inch samples and hopes to have a working demo product in the next 18 months for its first, unnamed customer.
While Tynt is proud of the aesthetic steps it has taken in creating its product, Saafir said the company’s primary goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By dimming the windows when it's warm and sunny and making them clear when it’s cold and sunny, Tynt said its product is designed to reduce the reliance on heating and cooling systems.
“There is a huge energy savings potential and so much so that if everyone had these windows, as a planet we’d use 4% less energy overall,” Saafir said. “It’s a huge bite out of the apple of greenhouse gas emissions and that’s a really big deal.”
Once it produces a working prototype, Saafir said the company will work to develop its windows for new construction, installation in existing homes and, eventually, retrofitting over already in-place windows.
While he expects the windows to be a higher-end product, he said the cost would be significantly lower than its competitors, adding if regular windows cost an estimated $400 with treatments, Tynt’s windows would come in around $500.
The 12-person company recently moved into a new 9,000 square-foot facility in Boulder and expects to grow its team in the coming months.
Amid Colorado’s growth as a cleantech ecosystem — the state was ranked No. 5 in a recent report from venture capital and research firm Saoradh Enterprise Partners — Saafir said Tynt has seen a changing attitude from the investment community.
“People are starting to get that this is a problem that does need a bunch of different technologies and we need the financial support and it’s not a nonprofit or donation, we’re going to make money and deliver those returns,” he said. “I don’t think we could’ve been as successful even three years ago with raising the kind of money we did because things have changed so much in short period of time in such a positive way.”
