Greentech Media's Top Ten Startups

Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy wants to take you off the grid. We think. Since we last profiled Bloom Energy at the #6 spot on our Top Ten Startup list, the company has yet to update their website or release a product. However, buzz about the company keeps growing and, with it, our interest in what we think they’re planning to do.

Common consensus is that Bloom Energy is developing a 100 kW kW ceramic core regenerative solid oxide fuel cell for distributed generation in homes and business. A key innovation in their technology is its ability to process nearly any kind of hydrocarbon-based fuel, ranging from natural gas to ethanol to methane to biodiesel. Considering the current energy distribution infrastructure, having a 100 kW fuel cell running off pre-existing natural gas lines would allow for easy integration in nearly any home without having to worry about acquiring and storing other kinds of fuelants. Energy created from the fuel cell may be used to generate heat, electricity, cooling, and (maybe) hydrogen. The company has worked with the University of Tennessee, the Department of Energy, and (possibly) Cypress Semiconductor on field tests.

Given founder K R. Sridhar’s background as Director of the Space Technologies Lab at the University of Arizona and his work at NASA on converting Martian gases into oxygen, we’re expecting big things from the company. Bloom’s technology and Sridhar’s background was enough to convince investors like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Advanced Equities to the tune of $250 million, and that’s enough to sway us.