We are excited to announce that Matchstick Ventures Fund III has completed an investment in Helio Home. Helio Home is an online platform that designs the easiest and most cost effective path to whole home electrification. 

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Background: As both businesses and consumers look to reduce their carbon footprints in light of climate change, one of the most high-impact areas where people can make a difference is in their own homes. Gas appliances, such as stoves and heaters, as well as a reliance on gas-powered electric grids, make homes one of the largest polluters most people utilize on a daily basis. It’s estimated that 42% of emissions come from decisions that are made around the kitchen table. 

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One of the key ways to reduce carbon footprints in our homes is by electrifying them, although it can be a complicated process. Many people start with solar panels on their roof, but appliances and other systems may still rely on gas. In order to eliminate that reliance, consumers need to find different products and installers, which can be a difficult, confusing and expensive process. And, not thinking about it holistically can result in increased costs and labor down the road. 

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Company Specifics: Helio Home is revolutionizing the way people power their homes by creating an easy-to-use platform for homeowners and multi-family residential buildings to electrify their dwellings. By building a holistic plan with the owners, they examine each aspect of the home that is not electrified and build a comprehensive plan on how to accomplish it. 

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This can be done all at once, managed by the Helio Home software, connecting home and building owners with labor, vendors and contractors who can electrify homes in one whole package. This allows for the entire project to be coordinated correctly and efficiently, ensuring nothing is left out or skipped over. Homeowners can also choose to complete electrification one piece at a time, keeping budgets in mind while also allowing each phase to build on the last and come together seamlessly. 

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Finally, Helio Home has a goal to eventually offer financing for these projects, which can cost customers about as much as their current monthly costs of gas and utilities, if not less. Financing through Helio Home will also allow them to support additional sales, replacement cycles, and manage any maintenance or service contracts. 

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We met the founders of Helio Home through the Colorado startup ecosystem. CEO Eric Reinhardt was formerly the head of software product at Sunrun, a company which operated similarly to Helio Home for just solar panels. He brings a lot of domain experience, along with the rest of his team, and they are well-suited to take advantage of this opportunity.