Burnsville-based 75F, a fast-growing maker of software that increases efficiency of heating and cooling systems in small commercial buildings, plans to raise up to $15 million in equity.
The company, in an SEC filing this week, said it has a commitment for half the money so far. 75F is expected to make additional disclosures within several days.
75F, which employs 80 people, was founded in 2012 and won state and national competitions, including the Minnesota Cup entrepreneurial sweepstakes in 2014. The company, which raised up to $3 million earlier in private transactions, has revenue of several million dollars annually.
CEO Deepinder Singh, a computer scientist and 75F's founder, got interested in controlling temperatures in buildings while tinkering in his big, drafty house in Mankato. Singh discovered stiff competition for energy-management systems in the residential and large commercial building markets, so he focused 75F software on small commercial buildings.
The 75F system uses software that incorporates weather forecasts and room-by-room sensors to set the temperature.
'Smart building solution'
The company's "smart building solution" is a so-called Internet of Things application that includes wireless sensors, equipment controllers and cloud-based software that 75F has demonstrated can be operated by grade-school kids, through a partnership with a nearby school.
The company's customers include Border Foods, a large Taco Bell franchisee, LongHorn Steakhouse, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware, and Hom Furniture. It also operates in India, Singh's home country. Its customers there include the Times of India newspaper, Flipkart and Mercedes-Benz. The typical user may be a one-building operator or a retailer with multiple facilities.
One customer, Border Foods, started installing 75F systems in 2015. Brian Davies, facilities manager for Border Foods, has said that keeping employees comfortable in the kitchen near a hot-food line had been a problem, and the 75F system worked. Davies has said that the payback period per installation in his energy-intensive business was about 2 ½ years.
