Jetson Secures $50 Million to Revolutionize Home Heating Systems

Jetson Home Inc., a Vancouver startup aiming to disrupt the home heating sector with its own digitally enhanced heat pump systems, has raised US$50-million to fund its blistering growth. The two-year-old company is already generating $4-million-plus in monthly revenue just over a year after launching a vertically integrated service, initially in Vancouver and Denver. Jetson makes, sells and installs digitally enhanced electric heating units featuring WiFi-connected electronics and sensors so their performance can be monitored on a mobile app. Jetson has begun expanding in Massachusetts, New York and across Colorado and plans to enter new markets this year, including Seattle. It also plans to sell its own home electric-vehicle chargers and heat pump-powered water heaters in 2026. “We plan to offer a comprehensive set of electric home products over a longer time horizon, which will all work seamlessly together and bring the same Jetson technology-led experience to homeowners,” said chief executive officer and co-founder Stephen Lake, whose last startup, smart-eyewear developer North, sold to Google Inc. in 2020, in an interview. Silicon Valley-based Eclipse Capital led the Jetson financing, backed by fellow U.S. venture capital firms 8VC and Activate Capital. Canada’s Garage Capital and Active Impact Investments, which funded Jetson’s US$5-million seed round in 2024, also participated. 2024: Google bought his smart glasses company. Will anyone buy Stephen Lake’s heat pumps? Active’s managing partner Mike Winterfield said some of his firm’s backers were skeptical when he first invested, before Jetson was generating revenue, but it has since delivered “pretty even, consistent growth.” Many venture capital firms shy away from lower-margin services businesses, though vertically integrated companies such as Jetson that strip out middlemen and costs can deliver strong returns, he said. “We bet on Stephen because his ambitions are going to be almost limitless” and Jetson is executing on its plans. Eclipse venture partner Ryan Gibson said in an interview “It was instantly clear that Stephen is an exceptional entrepreneur,” based on the technical progress North made before its sale to Google, which was necessitated by a cash crunch. It was a disappointing outcome as Google redirected the acquired company’s efforts and resources to its augmented reality unit and cut staff. North had been one of Canada’s most hyped tech companies since BlackBerry Ltd., based on wearable technology Mr. Lake had co-developed while studying mechatronics engineering at University of Waterloo. North “maybe wasn’t the outcome he wanted,” said Mr. Gibson, but with Jetson, Mr. Lake and his co-founders Aaron Grant and Matthew Bailey “assembled a very clear, differentiated product vision for this category” and a strong team. Mr. Lake decided to redirect his entrepreneurial energy to climate technologies after growing jaded at Google. He said while the still-developing smart glasses business has been “a long slog,” Jetson is “a bit of a different animal” with fewer engineering challenges and a faster payoff for the environment that doesn’t require years of technical breakthroughs. He and his co-founders set out to make heat pumps – which move heated air in and out of homes – that were cheaper but also added functionality and appeal. Their goal is to encourage wide adoption of technology that can displace greenhouse gas-emitting gas furnaces. Jetson initially procured heat pumps under another brand name, building wirelessly connected electronic control boards that manufacturers put inside the units. It got manufacturers to adapt fittings on the units so the outdoor and indoor parts of the system could be snapped together, rather than welded. That reduced labour costs, fire risk and insurance needs. Jetson also launched a branded installation business, recruiting local installers to work exclusively for the company in its markets. It developed standardized processes and training so jobs could be done in one day and developed software to manage back-office functions. Its online platform enables customers to generate estimates by uploading information and pictures of their buildings, and Jetson has automated the process to obtain permits and government rebates. It has installed more than 1,000 systems to date, which run about $15,000 each. In September, Jetson switched to offering its own heat pump, which integrates its technology and brand and is made by contract manufacturers that supply other industry players. Its units contain sensors that monitor hundreds of data points including pressure and temperature, refrigerant levels, air flow and filter status. The company also offers a subscription maintenance and remote monitoring service. Jetson isn’t the only venture capital-backed upstart in the business: Quilt Systems Inc., based in Redwood City, Calif., and led by Canadian-born CEO Paul Lambert, also makes smart heat pumps that can detect occupancy, heat homes on a room-by-room basis based on when they are being used and optimize heating costs based on variable timed rates charged by utilities – a feature Jetson plans to add.