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Dcbel

Energy · Montreal, Canada · Founded 2015

Dcbel Inc. operates within the clean technology sector, specifically focusing on residential energy management. Founded in 2015 in Montreal, Canada, by Marc-André Forget, Ronald Denom, and Dan Fletcher, the company was established to address the growing complexity of home energy needs driven by electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy sources. The founders brought together their expertise in new technology development, the energy sector, and cleantech to create a solution for intelligent energy optimization. CEO Marc-André Forget, a serial entrepreneur and electrical engineer, has a background in advising utilities on EV adoption and distributed energy systems, which directly informs the company's strategic direction. The company's business model centers on the design, manufacturing, and sale of its flagship hardware product, the dcbel Ara Home Energy Station (formerly known as r16). This product is sold to homeowners who are looking to integrate solar power, EV charging, and energy storage. Dcbel's target market includes EV owners and households with or planning to install solar panels. The company has secured significant funding to scale its operations, including a Series C round of up to $55 million in March 2025, bringing its total raised capital to over $150 million. This financial backing, from investors like Canada Growth Fund, Idealist Capital, and Volvo Cars Tech Fund, is aimed at accelerating commercialization in North America and Europe. The dcbel Ara is a comprehensive home energy station that integrates multiple functionalities into a single wall-mounted device. Its core feature is bidirectional DC charging, which allows not only for charging an EV from the grid or solar panels but also for powering the home with the EV's battery (Vehicle-to-Home or V2H). The unit functions as a solar inverter, converting DC power from solar panels for home use, and as a powerful Level 2 EV charger that can charge a vehicle significantly faster than standard chargers. The system is managed by an AI-powered operating system, Orchestrate OS, which optimizes energy flow by learning household consumption patterns and considering external factors like utility rates and weather. This allows the system to automatically decide whether to use, store, or sell energy back to the grid, aiming to reduce electricity costs for the homeowner. After a two-year process, the product became the first certified residential bidirectional DC EV charger in the United States under UL standards. Keywords: home energy management, bidirectional EV charging, solar inverter, vehicle-to-home (V2H), smart energy, residential energy storage, clean technology, renewable energy integration, DC charger, energy optimization, power outage backup, smart grid, cleantech, EV infrastructure, sustainable energy, energy self-sufficiency, AI energy management, home electrification, solar power conversion, residential power management