Retroficiency Reels In $3.3M, Buys Nexamp’s Energy Efficiency Division

A Boston cleantech-software startup is making some noise today in a burgeoning market. Retroficiency announced it has raised $3.32 million in new financing led by Point Judith Capital. As part of the deal, the startup has acquired the energy efficiency division of Nexamp, a North Andover, MA-based solar power producer that is also backed by Point Judith.

Retroficiency appears to be growing, with several new hires also being announced today, including Hugh Gaasch, Paul Gagne, and Richard Huntley at the vice president level, and Karim Bibawi (from Nexamp) as chief operating officer.

The company started in 2009 and provides software as a service that helps real estate firms, energy service companies, and commercial property owners gauge the energy-cost impact of upgrading things like lighting systems and insulation. This is an alternative to site visits and energy audits, which can be expensive and slow. Retroficiency previously raised an $800,000 seed round from energy management firm World Energy (NASDAQ: [[ticker:XWES]]) and angel investors.

Retroficiency CEO and co-founder Bennett Fisher told me back in March that the market for commercial building retrofits was growing, and that this year and next would be important for the startup to gain traction with big customers.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.