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Melbourne-based climate tech hardware manufacturer Conry Tech has raised $3 million in seed funding to aid development of its BullAnt air-conditioner, which the company says has the ability to halve the energy bills of commercial buildings.
The capital raise, led by specialist climate tech investor Audacy, is a pre-cursor to a potential $13 million Series A round planned by the company for 2026.
Founded in 2020 by Ron Conry, Sam Ringwaldt and Brenda Ringwaldt, Conry Tech is a HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) innovator that has been working to reinvent air-conditioning and eliminate a billion tonnes of carbon emissions.
Conry has extensive experience in the field, led by his invention of the energy-efficient Turbocor compressor, a business that he moved to North America in 1999 after securing $26 million from the Canadian Government.
Through Conry Tech, Conry and the Ringwaldts aim to create a new success story in the HVAC field by manufacturing their BullAnt system, which is currently under development, in Australia.
“The aim is simple; build the world’s best air-conditioner,” says Conry Tech CEO Sam Ringwaldt.
“Like the iconic insect, our system is small, powerful and distinctly Australian.
“We are building the BullAnt from scratch, with no off-the-shelf components, to be the most energy efficient air-conditioner on the market, and we have spent five years in R&D to get to this point.”
Ringwaldt says the latest capital raise will accelerate that development through the next steps of the startup’s go-to-market strategy.
“We believe this has the potential to revolutionise air-conditioning, which is one of the largest sources of global electricity use and emissions,” he says.
The BullAnt air-conditioner has been developed entirely in Australia to date, with Conry Tech planning to use the capital injection to finish its development and expand its team.
“I’ve been in the air-conditioning sector for 60 years, and it has barely changed,” says Ron Conry, the Conry Tech CTO.
“With ambitious net zero targets on the horizon, we need genuine innovation to reduce soaring global HVAC emissions.
“It’s critical that new products like the BullAnt come to market as soon as possible, and it is our responsibility to make that happen.”
Conry still sees a future for Australian manufacturing and has expressed a “sincere hope” that Conry Tech can make the BullAnt domestically.
“But most importantly, we must build it quickly, anyway and anywhere we can,” he says.
Lead investor Audacy is a climate-tech specialist that backs early-growth-stage technology companies providing cost-competitive solutions to replace fossil fuel incumbents.
“Cooling demand is projected to grow significantly globally, particularly in APAC where rising temperatures, rapid urbanisation and economic growth demand new innovations in the HVAC industry” says Toby Chan, partner and co-founder at Audacy.
“Conry Tech’s decentralised HVAC solution offers transformative potential, significantly reducing electricity consumption in commercial buildings and data centres.”
Chan describes Conry and the Ringwaldts as industry veterans with proven success in developing, scaling and commercialising advanced HVAC technologies over the past 30 years.
“We look forward to assist the company to scale its solution globally, which offers significant decarbonisation potential whilst also increasing asset values for real asset owners and helping them to meet their sustainability goals,” he says.
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