May 12, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Cortex Announces $6M Series A Round to Bring Commercial Real Estate into a Sustainable Future

Cortex, the Building Analytics software company, has closed a $6M Series A round, led by 4490 Ventures. Cortex has raised $11M in total funding to-date.

Cortex, which is building the fastest and most cost-effective way to decarbonize commercial buildings, is using the investment to grow its product management, sales and marketing teams, as well as build new software and machine-learning products. Cortex applies proprietary analytics to existing, underutilized data streams, such as equipment operations, space temperatures, meter readings, occupancy levels and weather forecasts, improving the comfort and sustainability of building operations while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions.

“The 4490 team will be phenomenal partners as we rapidly scale our proven product across a massive market that's vastly underserved,” said Bryan Bennett, Cortex Founder and CEO. “They bring significant experience as founders and investors. This capital will enable us to rapidly accelerate our ability to bring our proven product to market and to significantly expand our platform to drive additional customer value.”

In 2020, Cortex clients saved 87.6 GWh, the equivalent of taking 13,386 cars off the road. The company's latest product releases include its new Building Health Dashboard, which calculates key metrics like Air Changes per Hour and Fresh Air %, continuously helping building operators bring tenants safely back to the office post-COVID and improving the overall in-building air quality.

“The real estate industry emits into the atmosphere nearly 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions globally, almost 2X what the entire transportation industry emits, with commercial building operations in dense urban areas being the worst offenders,” said 4490 Ventures Managing Director Dan Malven. “The real estate industry knows they must change but prior to Cortex’s innovative software-only solution, building operators had only costly, ineffective hardware-centric solutions available to them. Cortex is poised to change the game for commercial building operators and the climate industry in general. I could not be more proud or excited to be supporting the Cortex team in that journey.”

To learn more, visit get.cortexintel.com/.

About Cortex Intel

Cortex Intel provides the fastest and lowest cost path to decarbonizing your building. On average Cortex customers save 5x Cortex fees, adding millions in asset value, and creating a meaningful sustainability impact. Cortex puts a mobile and web app in the hands of building engineers, which provides extremely simple charts and operational recommendations, by applying machine learning algorithms to Building Management System and meter data. In doing so, it allows engineers to operate increasingly complex HVAC systems more easily, and with greater precision—giving them better information as they make countless operational decisions every day. As a result, office buildings using Cortex Intel immediately reduce operating cost with no upfront investment.

About 4490 Ventures

4490 Ventures invests in Connected Software companies. We are a team of investors, founders and operators with more than 100 years of combined experience who bring capital and a network of resources to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of tech companies. We are high conviction, high concentration early-stage investors focused on companies outside of Silicon Valley. For more information, visit 4490Ventures.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.