WIND Ventures backs Turntide Technologies
Author: Sean Simpson, WIND Ventures
At WIND Ventures we aim to back the companies that will define the new era of energy, transportation and retail. We call San Francisco home but search for the best Founders across the globe and are uniquely positioned to help startups scale into one of the fastest growing global markets, Latin America. Our team brings a wealth of both institutional and corporate venturing experience and has a proven track record of creating win/wins between startups and large corporations.
The energy space is of particular interest to WIND Ventures and we believe that the energy transition will need to involve significant breakthroughs on both the supply and demand sides and therefore focus on both. We also believe that the value proposition cannot just be good for the environment but must also be good for companies’ bottom lines. This is why we are searching the globe for compelling technologies that can be adopted quickly to start positively impacting both the environment and the bottom line. Sometimes these opportunities require a deep dive into a space and other times they are hiding in plain sight.
A few years ago, if someone had stopped me on the street and asked me to guess what uses the most electricity in our everyday lives, I would have probably guessed lights. No matter the type, size or shape of a building or outdoors area, lights are everywhere. And while they have consistency improved performance (namely, efficiency) over time, the sheer number of them would seem to still put them on top of the list. And I would have been wrong.
While lights are one of the top consumers of electricity, electric motors consume the most. In fact, they consume nearly 50% of electricity on a global basis which is more than two times that of lighting as shown in the below chart.
This revelation is why we quickly became excited about our newest portfolio company, Turntide Technologies. Based in Silicon Valley, Turntide has developed a new type of smart electric motor that is more efficient than the designs of the past which have not changed very much from when Nikola Tesla invented them in 1888. electric motors can be swapped into a variety of existing applications for immediate energy savings. The first of these applications is commercial HVAC units of which the parent of WIND Ventures, Copec, has thousands of across a portfolio of 3000+ gas stations and convenience stores located in Latin America and the United States. This represents a multi-million-dollar opportunity for Turntide and would lead to multi-million-dollar savings per year for Copec.
In addition to the near-term OPEX improvements, it also supports Copec’s mission to continue its expansion into new businesses including selling energy efficiency related products and services. By first deploying this technology within Copec, we will help co-develop Turntide’s roadmap to sell to others in Latin America and multiply our ability to positively impact climate change while continuing to service our extensive client network.
Turntide’s team consists of a blend of software and hardware design and engineering experts that have been working on the core technology behind their motors since 2013. They are led by Ryan Morris, a serial entrepreneur who has been working on difficult problems since he started researching nuclear fusion at age 11! We met Ryan through our friends at BMW iVentures and quickly realized he was building a truly innovative company that had massive impact potential. Part of Ryan’s secret to success is his relentless focus on a great company culture that enables Turntide to attract and retain the talent needed to be successful. We also had the opportunity to meet and start working with many of the other leaders throughout the company and are excited about joining them on this very important mission.
If you are a Founder working on an interesting technology in the energy, transportation, or retail spaces, we would love to connect and learn more. In addition to capital, which is relatively abundant these days, we want to help plan your future expansion into Latin America. As you can read in one of our previous blog posts (link here), Latin America is a great market to consider and our unique positioning within that market can help create compelling growth opportunities for a wide variety of startups.
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About Sean Simpson
Sean Simpson is a director at WIND Ventures, the newly established CVC arm for COPEC, a leading energy and retail corporation and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. Prior to joining WIND, he was an investment manager at GM Ventures where he led investments in the mobility, cybersecurity, digital media, and manufacturing spaces.
About Wind Ventures
WIND Ventures is located in the San Francisco Bay Area and is the newly established corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of COPEC, one of the leading energy companies in Central and South America and one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America (LatAm). WIND Ventures leverages COPEC’s significant resources to accelerate growth, primarily within Latin America, for startups and scaleups across the world within the new mobility, energy and retail sectors.
