Worcester smart-building firm receives $3.8M MassDevelopment loan to more than double workforce

June 15, 2023 : Worcester Business Journal, Timothy Doyle

Embue, a Worcester-based technology company, has received a $3.8-million loan from MassDevelopment’s Emerging Technology Fund to help hire approximately 23 new full-time employees for the growing company.

The company, based in the WorcLab incubator and coworking space at 44 Portland St., created a smart-building platform to increase energy efficiency in housing developments. Embue counts WinnCompanies of Boston, Braintree developer The Schochet Companies, and 2Life Communities of Brighton among its clients, according to a Thursday press release from MassDevelopment. The platform is installed in 70 buildings across the northeast.

Embue announced in November it raised $2.3 million in seed money led by Atlanta venture capital firm Shadow Ventures, with participation from Denver investment firm Avesta Fund and Canadian firm Leder Investments, among others.

The company currently employs 15 people, who work in a hybrid-capacity.

“Embue’s innovative platform is a ‘two-for,’ improving building conditions for residents and saving money by enabling some of the state’s largest affordable, senior, and market-rate housing owners and operators to embrace clean energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels,” MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera said in the press release. “Growing demand for this smart technology will create high-quality jobs in Massachusetts, and that’s why MassDevelopment is proud to help the company ramp up operations with loan financing from our Emerging Technology Fund.”

Created in 2003, MassDevelopment’s ETF provides low-cost, long-term venture debt to early-stage, emerging technology companies. ETF has closed 58 loans and guarantees totaling $96.9 million through Dec. 31, 2022, according to the press release.