Please welcome Tetra, the home services company making heating and cooling green
Meet Tetra, the latest addition to Lerer Hippeau’s portfolio.
HQ: Boston, MA
Founder: Max Veggeberg
The problem: Rising energy costs and extreme weather events due to climate change are driving increasing demand for more efficient home energy solutions. Federal and state governments are also working to encourage demand for clean energy technologies by offering rebates and credits to households that install energy-efficient home upgrades. Meanwhile, manufacturers are responding with a range of new and more efficient devices. We’re in the early innings of widespread energy transition. However, the rush of new technologies and the complex array of newly available government incentives have left homeowners confused, while home improvement contractors are poorly equipped to guide homeowners through the quickly shifting landscape.
Tetra’s solution: Tetra is on a mission to make it simple for homeowners to navigate the labyrinthine process of transitioning to more cost-effective home heating and cooling solutions, and that was clear when we first invested in 2021. The company has developed a technology that allows homeowners to enter their address, receive an instant price, and browse the federal and state incentives available to them. Tetra’s end-to-end platform then matches customers with qualified and vetted local contractors, creating efficiencies along each step of the process. By redesigning and modernizing the home heating and cooling buying process, Tetra creates cost savings of up to 30% compared to the average contractor and passes the savings to the homeowner. Tetra also improves administrative burdens on contractors by automating end-to-end workflows from sales, to inventory management, customer financing, system design, and installation. Simply put, Tetra’s solution benefits all parties.
Origin story: Prior to founding Tetra, Max was the founder and CEO of HomeWorks Energy, which he grew to more than $100 million in revenue. Under his leadership, the company became the largest driver of consumer adoption of home energy efficiency initiatives in Massachusetts through Mass Save, a program that served as a model for the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated billions of dollars in incentives to help homeowners switch to high-efficiency systems. During his time at HomeWorks Energy, Max identified a wider need to make the adoption of home energy devices more accessible, and from this early insight created Tetra.
Why we’re betting on it: Millions of homeowners are ready to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and improve their homes with energy efficient solutions. But the field of opportunities is flooded with new technologies and government incentives, and with fundamental challenges around managing home services already present, few homeowners know where to begin. By leveraging its proprietary technology, installer network, and newly available incentives, Tetra is helping to guide households eager to do their part in reducing their carbon footprint. The company has identified a gap in the market for clean tech devices. By connecting homeowners with installers, they are creating a new market, replacing obstacles to home improvement with a smooth and transparent customer experience.
Our take: Max and the Tetra team have simplified a formerly complex process. The streamlined platform they are rolling out is a real achievement, one that requires a deep understanding of the market. Max recognizes the scale of the challenge he and his team face and is equipped with the industry knowledge and experience to execute Tetra’s mission to simplify a household’s transition to clean energy. Importantly, Tetra’s focus on homeowners is consistent with our own belief that real progress towards a green economy can begin at the level of the household. Tetra has developed a transparent solution that leverages automation to ease the burden on consumers and installers, paving the way for widespread clean tech adoption. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with and support Max and his vision (and we’ve been impressed with his progress since our initial investment in 2021), as he leads this shift into heating and cooling systems that save energy and reduce climate impact.
Further reading: “Exclusive: Heat pump firm Tetra raises $10.5M” via Axios
