GreenTech Pitch Competition
Advanced English listening exercise ยท Startup Pitches
Transcript
[Founder] I'm Alex Rivera from SolarGrid. Buildings consume forty percent of global energy, and most of that is wasted. Our smart building platform reduces energy consumption by up to forty-five percent. [Judge] How does it work? [Founder] We install IoT sensors throughout a building that monitor temperature, occupancy, lighting, and air quality in real time. Our AI platform processes this data and automatically optimizes HVAC, lighting, and power systems. [Judge] What makes this better than a smart thermostat? [Founder] A thermostat controls temperature in one room. SolarGrid orchestrates the entire building ecosystem. We learn occupancy patterns, weather forecasts, and energy prices to make predictive adjustments. For example, we pre-cool a building at four AM when electricity rates are lowest, so it uses less energy during peak hours. [Judge] Impressive. What about ROI for building owners? [Founder] The average payback period is eighteen months. After that, our clients save between one hundred and five hundred thousand dollars annually in energy costs. Plus, they reduce their carbon footprint by an average of thirty-five percent. [Judge] What's your current scale? [Founder] We're in sixty-two commercial buildings representing over eight million square feet. Our net revenue retention is one hundred thirty percent because clients keep expanding to additional properties. [Founder] We're raising ten million in Series B to scale internationally and add battery storage optimization to our platform.
Comprehension questions
- How much energy can SolarGrid reduce?
- What is the average payback period?
- What percentage of global energy do buildings consume?
- How many commercial buildings is SolarGrid currently operating in?
- According to the founder, which systems does SolarGrid's AI automatically optimize?