Our Investment in Quilt
Modern, electric home comfort control
Heat pumps are having a moment. In 2022, annual sales in the U.S. surged past gas furnaces with 4 million units sold. Similar momentum is happening in Europe, as policy incentives and technology improvements continue to boost adoption. While all of this heat pump excitement is a step in the right direction for home electrification, it’s honestly not surprising given the benefits of today’s heat pump technology.
Compared to legacy HVAC systems, mini-split heat pump systems are up to four times more energy efficient and easier to install. Heat pumps are more versatile year-round as they can be used to both heat and cool homes. From an emissions standpoint, heat pump technology offers a clean, electric alternative to some of the largest consumers of fuel in the home. They make homes healthier and safer by avoiding carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, and other harmful emissions associated with traditional HVAC systems. In addition to emissions reductions, heat pumps can also reduce home energy costs significantly.
Regardless of all the benefits of heat pump technology, there is still a gap when evaluating heat pumps as a consumer product. A majority of available heat pumps operate on a central system similar to old furnaces, which not only takes longer to heat the home but often requires re-ducting work. Limited product options, insufficient consumer information, and a clunky contractor experience also make the process of purchasing a heat pump difficult and unreliable.
Quilt was founded to close this gap. The company is on a mission to migrate humanity off fossil fuel heating with its room-by-room ductless heat pump systems. Founded by Paul Lambert, Bill Kee, and Matthew Knoll, Quilt brings together world-class engineers, designers, and product leaders dedicated to passing on a better world to future generations. At MCJ Collective, we’ve proudly backed companies focused on electrifying different areas of the home including EV charger installation and other holistic solutions. Now we’re “pumped” to add Quilt to our growing list of home electrification solutions and to support Paul, Bill, Matt, and the entire Quilt team as they work to accelerate heat pump adoption and improve home comfort while slashing household carbon emissions.
What is Quilt?
Quilt is a California-based startup that has developed a next-generation electric home climate control system that enables room-by-room control. The company’s flagship hardware product is designed to provide precise room-by-room heating and cooling with easy-to-use and intelligent software, enabling everyone in the home to control the thermostat to suit their own needs.
While a conventional ducted system relies on a single, large fan to circulate air through a network of ducts connected to a central heater or air conditioner, Quilt’s ductless mini-split system takes a different approach. It divides the workload between a heat pump located outside the home and multiple, hyper-efficient indoor air handling units. Each unit comes equipped with its own fan and temperature controls, resulting in more precise temperature management and improved energy efficiency. Quilt will be available in 2024, but customers can join the waitlist on the company’s website to reserve a system here.
Why Did We Invest?
Compelling Founder-Market Fit
Founded in 2022, Quilt brings together world-class engineers, designers, and product leaders who are dedicated to passing on a better world to future generations. The company’s co-founders, Paul Lambert, Bill Kee, and Matthew Knoll bring a diverse skill set that includes entrepreneurship, innovation, and product management, which makes them well-suited to lead the growing team at Quilt.
Paul Lambert, Quilt’s Founder and CEO, previously served as a Partner at Google’s in-house incubator Area 120, where he led their sustainability investments. Paul also started Learndot, a learning management system that was acquired by ServiceRocket in 2014. Quilt’s Co-founder and COO, Bill Kee, formerly led teams of product managers in real estate technology, AR commerce, analytics and measurement, and more. And the company’s CTO, Matthew Knoll, previously worked on multiple complex hardware and software projects from Google’s Loon to a children’s robot. Most recently Matt led a multi-disciplinary team of engineers at Tidal, an ocean sustainability moonshot focused on fish farming.
In addition to the founding team’s extensive background in product management and development, the Quilt team includes former Apple and Tesla engineers.
Exciting Product Roadmap
Most American families rely on fossil fuels for two major aspects of their daily lives: powering their vehicles and heating their homes. As the world moves towards a net-zero economy, both of these areas will need to transition to clean electricity. While the shift to electric vehicles is already well underway, progress toward cleaner home energy has been much slower due to a lack of innovation in the industry.
That's where Quilt comes in. By creating beautiful, super-efficient, and intelligent indoor mini-split units that are easy to install, Quilt aims to disrupt the decades-old industry of home heating with its innovative smart heat pumps. In doing so, Quilt will be at the forefront of catalyzing the transition to clean home energy.
IRA Tailwinds
Government incentives, including the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed last year, signal accelerated interest in energy-efficient systems for the home electrification movement. The IRA includes rebates and tax credits of up to $10,000 specifically for heat pumps. These rebates, coupled with cost savings from reduced energy consumption make heat pumps a win-win solution for all homeowners. We’re confident that Quilt’s seamless customer experience and ductless mini-split technology will only further the heat pump movement we’re watching unfold.
Additional Resources
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I've had a Mitsubishi mini-split system for several years and love it. We installed it during a remodel where we didn't have the space for a fully ducted system. Do these new systems from Quilt, Gradient, and others offer some sort of fundamental advantage over the current systems? I'm trying to advise a friend whether he should wait for something better or move forward with today's technology.
I'm concerned that the move away from gas toward all-electric makes consumers increasingly dependent on undependable electric distribution corporations. Further, this is happening at the same moment that all electric distribution systems are becoming more vulnerable to climate-change-amplified floods, wind storms, tornadoes, fires, ice storms, etc. Can you address the need to harden electric distribution systems? Is anyone working on this? Thanks!