A $100 Billion Silent Annual Energy Loss

Globally, steam inefficiency accounts for 1.4 billion metric tons of CO₂ emissions each year, directly linked to wasted fuel consumption. This translates into over $100 billion in annual energy waste opportunity, largely due to poorly functioning steam traps. These critical components are designed to discharge condensate and non-condensable gases while trapping live steam. When they fail (which they often do), they either waste steam (blowing through) or cause system backups (blocked), both leading to massive, unmonitored energy losses.

Excessive Maintenance, Not Prevention

Traditional methods of steam trap maintenance rely on manual inspections, which are costly, time-consuming, and inaccurate. Inspectors physically check traps once or twice a year, leaving facilities vulnerable to failures that can go undetected for months. This reactive "firefighting" mentality leads to excessive maintenance costs, unexpected downtime, and significant safety risks, rather than proactive, preventative measures. Facilities often replace traps based on arbitrary schedules or catastrophic failure, not actual operational need.

The Age of "Dumb" Steam: A Lack of Intelligent Systems

In an era of smart factories and IoT-driven insights, the vast majority of steam traps remain "dumb" devices: passive, unmonitored components that offer no real-time data or diagnostics. This absence of intelligent monitoring means operators lack the visibility needed to understand when and why traps are failing, where energy is being lost, or how to optimize their steam network for peak efficiency. Without an intelligent system, the hidden steam problem remains just that: hidden, expensive, and persistent.

Imperium Technologies: The Intelligent Solution

Imperium Technologies’ InteliTrap® and SteamView® GenAI platform are revolutionizing the steam industry by transforming "dumb" traps into smart, connected devices. Imperium provides real-time, actionable intelligence, turning a $100 billion annual problem into a massive opportunity for savings, efficiency, and significant GHG reduction.

The Architects of Industrial Intelligence: Meet the Founders of Imperium Technologies

Behind every great innovation is a deep understanding of a persistent problem. For Gordon Judd (CTO & Co-Founder), that problem was the "hiss" of wasted energy. With over 30 years in critical steam infrastructure and a background in nuclear and mechanical engineering, Gordon witnessed firsthand how the $500B steam industry was crippled by outdated, manual maintenance. For decades, the "gold standard" was a stethoscope and a guess—a process that allowed 20% of steam to simply vanish.

Knowing the industry needed more than a better valve—it needed "eyes"—Gordon partnered with Brad Medford (CEO & Co-Founder). A seasoned innovator with a pedigree at AT&T Labs, Cisco, and Ericsson, Brad brought the IoT and data expertise required to pull the steam industry into the digital age.

Together, they founded Imperium Technologies in 2021 to replace clipboard inspections with InteliTrap® and SteamView®. Supported by COO Brian Coulter’s manufacturing scale expertise and VP of Engineering Jim Curran’s decades of SaaS and IoT leadership, the team is on a mission to eliminate the 1.4 billion tons of carbon emissions caused by steam waste.

At Imperium, the leadership isn't just fixing pipes; they are building the first intelligent operating system for the world’s most critical utility.

Please contact Tony Coretto or Mitchell Hauser for more information or to arrange a meeting with Brad Medford, CEO of Imperium Technologies.

Two New Contracts from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and University of Alabama at Birmingham

Nanocrine launched their plasmonic imaging technology at the American Society for Cell Biology conference (https://www.ascb.org/cellbio2025/), generating significant interest in the scientific community and resulting in two new contracts for research using Nanocrine’s plasmonic chips:

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine

• University of Alabama at Birmingham

  
  

Nanocrine was also featured in the AI Journal for their work in helping to advance personalized cancer treatment. To read more, click here.

Please contact Tony Coretto for more information or to arrange a meeting with Dr. Patrick Calhoun, Nanocrine's President and Chief Science Officer. 

Join CircuitMeter for a Live Discussion on Forensic Energy Analytics

Building on its mission to deliver forensic energy transparency, CircuitMeter is hosting an upcoming event highlighting how its integrated hardware-software platform enables continuous energy auditing, operational optimization, emissions reduction, and compliance with evolving regulatory standards. The session will showcase real-world applications of advanced energy analytics and how building operators can turn granular data into actionable insights.You can register for the event here.

Please contact Mitchell Hauser for more information or to arrange a meeting with Dan Seto, CircuitMeter's CEO.

Hydrocycle's First Order is Now in Production

Splash, the leader in sustainable automated carwashes in China (the world’s largest market), continues to break records, with strong topline growth, major cost reductions, early profitability, new development financing, resumed site openings, and Hydrocycle’s substantial sales pipeline:

• Since early October, wash revenues have consistently been 25% higher year-on-year, with same-store volumes up 10% during the same period, following Splash's most recent price increase.

• The first $250k Hydrocycle order has been signed and is now in production.

  
  

For further information or to set up time to speak with Splash's CEO, Rob Shesol, please contact Tony Coretto.

We are excited to announce that Christine Martini has joined the SV team as a Venture Partner. Christine is a climate finance executive with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of investment banking, public finance, and sustainable infrastructure. She works with global banks, private funds, NGOs, and public agencies to structure sovereign, structured, and project finance transactions, develop blended-finance solutions, and deploy capital into climate and resilience assets.