In early April, Salt Lake City energy management startup Torus announced the addition of two new Board of Directors members and that it had received a $67 million equity injection from several venture capital firms and climate crowdfunding.
Torus specializes in virtual power plants and premier energy management, especially for renewable energy. Co-founders Nate Walkingshaw and Gilbert Lee lead a team of 65 energy industry engineers, designers, and associates developing upscale renewable storage and management for residents and businesses.
Funding came from Origin Ventures, which helps software and hardware developers fund their projects. Contributions also came from Epic Ventures, Cumming Capital, the Larry H. Miller Company, Zions Bank, Pelion, and ICONIQ. The money will expand the commercial use of Torus’s technology. The company works with Vivint Smart Home, Rocky Mountian Power, and other Mountain West utility companies.
“We are thrilled to have Origin Ventures leading this equity financing,” Nate Walkingshaw, CEO and co-founder of Torus, said in a press release.
“We continue to make significant technical strides in energy storage and management. We at Torus are proud to be designing, engineering, and manufacturing energy storage and management products here in the U.S.”
Photo Courtesy Torus
Walkingshaw founded the medical device company Paramed, now part of Stryker, and the lifestyle app Brightface, which later became part of Strava. He has consulted for companies like Amex, Barclays, NASDAQ, and Fujistu.
Brent Hill, managing director at Origin Ventures, and David Bywater, former COO and CEO of Vivint Smart Home and Vivint Solar, are the new Board members. In October 2020, Bywater assisted with Vivint Solar’s sale to Sunrun for $5.4 billion. He also served in several executive roles at Affiliated Computer Services, Xerox, and Bain & Company. Hill joined Origin Ventures in 2013 after leading sales organizations for Twitter and Google.
“At Torus, I see a leadership team equipped with the foresight, dedication, and innovation necessary for groundbreaking achievements in the energy storage sector,” Bywater said in a statement.
Photo Courtesy Torus
One of Torus’s main innovations is its Flywheel storage system. A heavy metal disc spins using energy from the grid or renewables, and kinetic energy is stored in the system for later use.
The Flywheel can be adapted for homes and businesses. Torus says the technology has a longer lifespan than other conventional battery storage systems, has a strong performance in hot and cold conditions, and is built with eco-friendly materials in the U.S.
The company says Torus systems can save business owners and homeowners up to 90% on monthly energy costs. It also has artificial intelligence software that protects homes from power outages.
The emission-free energy system can also power residential homes off-grid, relieving grid strain. All energy consumption is monitored and recorded on Torus’s smartphone app.
Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox and Salt Lake City Mayor Cherie Wood visited the Torus facility in August 2023. The visit showed state and city leaders how Utah’s clean energy sector is performing and how the company was revitalizing American manufacturing. The 44,000-square-foot facility has the latest technology for building renewable energy storage systems.
“The visit highlighted the strong relationship in Utah between state and local leadership collaborating with home-grown businesses like Torus to solve difficult problems,” the company wrote in a blog post. “Our thanks again to the governor and mayor for their support of the transformative potential of the new Torus Salt Lake facility!”
“Torus offers reliable, scalable, and secure solutions that can bring real change at all levels of the energy storage market. We are most excited about domestic manufacturing and production of energy storage and management products here in the U.S.,” Hill remarked in a press release shared with The Business Download. “As a Board member, I will work toward aligning the Torus vision to the pressing needs of an ever-expanding grid. The future and market outlook of Torus is bright!”
