File not found
data Capital

ControlBright Receives $500K Investment From Traction Capital

ControlBright, a Duluth-based hardware and software company specializing in remote access to lighting, HVAC, alarm, and automation systems, has received a $500,000 investment from Traction Capital. This marks the company’s first round of funding.

“Our main customers are large OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) because our remote access solution saves them significant amounts of time and money,” Chad Behling, ControlBright Founder, said in a release. “But the real beneficiary is the technician who no longer has to travel long distances – sometimes across multiple states – for on-site service or maintenance checks that are often on minor or routine issues.”

ControlBright uses an onsite 4G LTE device called a “Football” to connect to cloud via a proprietary platform, allowing technicians to access a range of building functions. In the release, the company acknowledges the other options for remote access on the market, but says its key differentiator is the, “ability to connect to multiple remote systems without configuring unique IP addresses for each system.” This, ControlBright says, reduces the planning for large installations and IP management.

“What Chad and ControlBright have accomplished already with a small team is certainly impressive,” Peyton Green, Traction Capital Sr. Associate, said in the release. “We are excited to see how much faster they can go with this investment and a couple of key hires.”

For more information about ControlBright and the raise, read the release below.

Minneapolis, MN: Traction Capital has invested $500,000 in a Duluth, MN company that is innovating within the industrial lighting and controls industry. The Minneapolis venture capital firm is excited to take the lead on ControlBright’s first round of funding.

ControlBright is a hardware/software solution that enables remote access to a building’s lighting, HVAC, alarm, and automation systems. The company utilizes a Football (4G LTE device) that exists onsite and connects back through the cloud via ControlBright’s proprietary platform. This allows technicians to perform many of their service and maintenance duties from their home or office.

“Our main customers are large OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) because our remote access solution saves them significant amounts of time and money,” says Chad Behling, founder of ControlBright. “But the real beneficiary is the technician who no longer has to travel long distances – sometimes across multiple states – for on-site service or maintenance checks that are often on minor or routine issues.”

The OEMs ControlBright sells to supply lighting and other industrial controls solutions to many of the largest retail stores, hospitals, office buildings, warehouses, factories, and multi-residential buildings around the world. The OEMs provide the technical support to most of the systems they sell, so remote access solutions like ControlBright deliver significant value to their service departments.

Many other remote access solutions do exist in the market. However, ControlBright offers one additional feature that sets it above the rest. ControlBright’s key differentiator is their ability to connect to multiple remote systems without configuring unique IP addresses for each system.  This is a powerful feature that makes deployment and management of systems in the field a breeze.  Large deployments no longer need extensive ongoing planning and IP address management.

Over the next year and beyond, Chad and ControlBright will work to build out their team in order to scale up production and sales. Traction Capital will support ControlBright through this process and believes the key to the business’s success will be to bring in the right people for the right positions and get Chad spending more of his time on the vision and areas of the business he is best at.

“What Chad and ControlBright have accomplished already with a small team is certainly impressive,” says Peyton Green, Sr. Associate at Traction Capital. “We are excited to see how much faster they can go with this investment and a couple of key hires.”

About ControlBright

ControlBright is a Duluth, MN based company selling hardware and software that creates remote access solutions for industrial lighting, HVAC, alarm, and automation suppliers. ControlBright’s solution allows for these suppliers to reduce costs and increase efficiency by enabling their technicians to manage, diagnose, and solve more issues remotely.

For more information, please visit: https://controlbright.com/

About Traction Capital

Traction Capital is a Minnesota based venture capital and private equity hybrid fund on a mission to help entrepreneurs get what they want for the greater good. The principals at Traction Capital achieve this goal by making investments in and acquisitions of companies in the “capital gap” – a place where funding is often vital, but less available. Traction Capital uses its entrepreneurial approach and investor base to better connect with its portfolio founders as they work together towards a common goal.

Alex Skjong
Alex oversees the content produced for BETA, Twin Cities Startup Week, and tech.mn. When he’s not writing or editing, there’s a good chance he’s enjoying a refreshing brew and explaining the merits of heavy metal (of which there are many).