NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ThinkEco, a New York City-based company that develops hardware and software energy-efficiency solutions, has named Erik Katz, 46, as Chief Executive Officer. Katz was most recently CEO of Blue Source, a leading carbon credit project developer in the U.S. and Canada.
Katz was appointed by Jun Shimada, a co-founder of ThinkEco, who will now serve as the firm's President and Chief Technology Officer. Katz will lead the firm's expanding role in energy-efficiency solutions among large enterprises, OEM's, utilities, building automation system integrators and smart grid developers. He will also oversee ThinkEco's continued growth in the consumer and commercial markets including its flagship modlet technology, an affordable, easy-to-use energy-efficiency product for the home and office.
"ThinkEco is poised to make a significant change in the way appliances and electronic equipment use electricity, in the way large enterprises reduce their carbon footprint, and in the way utilities help customers save money and energy," said Katz. "This is a highly dynamic young company that is moving in the right direction on all fronts and I'm eager to play a major role in its continued growth."
Katz is a founding board member and investor in Blue Strategies and The Paradigm Project. He has 25 years of industry experience, including 17 years at The Blackstone Group as a Senior Managing Director with a focus on M&A and private equity transactions. Formerly, he was with CS First Boston's Private Equity, M&A and Product Development groups, as well as with the asset management groups at Merrill Lynch and Nikko Securities. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a BBA in Finance and a BA in Japanese Language and Literature.
ThinkEco Milestones
- Launch of modlet for home: The ThinkEco modlet, a retrofit smart outlet that eliminates electricity output drawn from idle plugged-in appliances and equipment, was made available to consumers for the first time in November 2011. Available at BestBuy.com.
- Launch of modlet for business: Introduced to companies of all sizes in November 2010 as a self-installed energy-efficiency solution. Now used by companies across the U.S.
- Company Expansion: Opened West Coast office for ThinkEco Enterprise Solutions, a software as a services solution (SaaS) for large enterprises.
- Accolades: ThinkEco awarded the 2011 Innovative Star of Efficiency Award by the Alliance to Save Energy.
- Product Awards: Modlet named This Old House Top 100 New Products of 2011, Popular Science Best of What's New 2011, Sustainable Industries Best Building Products 2011.
- Partnership: Developing smart-grid enabled systems with Tendril for residential use.
- Collaboration: Developed a demand response application using modlet technology with utility partner ConEdison to reduce summertime peak energy use by window air-conditioner units.
About ThinkEco, Inc.
Founded in 2008, ThinkEco, Inc., is a New York City-based company developing easy-to-use energy efficiency solutions for homes and businesses. Its flagship product, the modlet, is an intelligent outlet that provides a simple, low-cost and installation-free method for saving money and energy on electronic appliances. The modlet software is a web application that has been developed in a scalable client-server architecture. For more information, visit www.thinkeco.com. For the latest updates and news, follow the company on Twitter @ThinkEco and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ThinkEco.
SOURCE ThinkEco, Inc.
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article