Here's where the idea for OCTI began imho....Friday, October 3, 2008-The Green Scene-Local tech bigwigs, grad student team for A/C booster startup
Two familiar faces of Sacramento’s tech scene have been helping a University of California Davis graduate student launch a startup to sell a product that boosts the efficiency of rooftop air conditioners.
Chris Soderquist, a general partner with Golden Capital Venture Funds, and Meg Arnold, a business consultant who previously worked for UC Davis, are working on the plan with Siva Gunda, a mechanical engineering Ph.D. candidate.
They’re negotiating with UC Davis for rights to license a patent for WicKool, an accessory that captures the water that condenses on air conditioner coils and uses the heat the air conditioner blows out to evaporate the water and cool incoming air.
Dick Bourne, associate director of the University of California Western Cooling Efficiency Center in Davis, invented the device. The venture team is testing it at a Wal-Mart store in Dixon and Target in West Sacramento.
Installing the system takes about 10 minutes and can save $100 per year on the typical $2,200 annual cost of running a 7-foot-by-10-foot commercial rooftop air conditioning unit. Commercial buildings have about one air conditioner per 4,000 square feet to be cooled.
WicKool would cut the cost of installing a new air conditioning unit by $1,200 because it removes the need for copper drainage pipes.
The company would probably sell WicKool for less than $300, Gunda said.
The business hasn’t incorporated or received startup funding yet, but Gunda pitched the venture at the Sacramento Region Clean Energy Showcase Venture Expo last week using the tentative business name Cooling Corp.
“What really is resonating with people is the simplicity and market readiness of what we’re doing,” Soderquist said.
