A few years ago, Selina Tobaccowala’s daughter started leaving sticky notes around the house telling people to “turn off the lights.”
Tobaccowala had just sold his last startup, Gixo, to OpenFit and was looking for a new challenge. “I looked at my kids and thought, ‘Let’s see if there’s something there in terms of sustainability and climate change,'” she told TechCrunch. “I needed something more than just turning off the lights.”
Without a background in climate science or hardware engineering, she didn’t know where to start. So Tobaccowara turned to a survey he was familiar with.
“We surveyed a ton of customers because we love surveys,” said Tababawala, who was SurveyMonkey’s president and CTO.
What she discovered was that people were having a hard time finding ways to lower their utility bills.
“When I talk to consumers, I hear the same thing over and over again: They get emails that say, ‘You’re spending more than your neighbor,'” she says. “They were at a loss as to what to do about it.”
Tobaccowala co-founded HomeBoost, which helps people do their own home energy assessments. The company participated in the Startup Battlefield 200 at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.
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HomeBoost’s evaluation process begins by mailing customers a BoostBox, a small kit that includes an infrared camera, a black light, and a link to an app that guides customers through the process. As people walk around their homes, infrared cameras show where cold (or hot) air is entering the home. Blacklight lets people know which lights can be upgraded.
The app uses scan data to automatically generate a report that suggests the most cost-effective upgrades, including rebates based on your location.
In many parts of the country, utility companies provide similar services. Utilities that are incentivized to reduce end-user energy usage often work with energy auditors to inspect people’s homes and identify ways to reduce consumption. However, the quality of these services can be highly uneven, Tabacowalla said.
“We’ve talked to a lot of consumers who have done home energy assessments and there was a sense of, ‘Hey, they’re just trying to sell me an upgraded HVAC,'” she said.
The HomeBoost app is cheaper and faster than an auditor and helps people feel more in control of the process, Tabacowala said.
HomeBoost charges customers $99, about a quarter of the cost of a traditional in-person appraisal. We also work with utilities that cover some or all of our customers’ costs. The startup has deals with Central Hudson, Omaha Public Power District, and most recently Avista. For example, Omaha Power will cover all costs except $19, while Central Hudson will cover all costs if a homeowner rents a Boost Box from a public library.
However, not all homeowners want to complete the inspection process on their own, and not all auditors are pushy salespeople. A full-time auditor can spend anywhere from two to 10 hours inspecting a home, collating data and preparing a construction report, Tabakowara said. To that end, HomeBoost has developed an app for professionals, allowing them to serve more customers.
The company is also testing the ability to connect homeowners with contractors who can perform the upgrades outlined in the report. For contractors, this is another source of new business and allows them to get information about a project before they even set foot in your home.
By connecting consumers, utilities, and contractors, Tobaccowalla hopes that HomeBoost can ultimately make a difference in climate change as well. “This is a very unique situation where we’re all aligned to actually lower our utility bills and ultimately improve our climate,” she said.
