Modebo is a co-ed founded startup based in Mexico City that focuses on energy efficiency in buildings. After participating in a demo hosted by Wayra, participating in the Energy Efficiency Global Forum two months ago in Washington D.C. with other large institutions such as the International Finance Corporation and the U.S. Department of Energy, and taking first place in the Startup World: Mexico City Competition, Modebo is headed to Silicon Valley this fall to compete in the Startup World Competition finals. Modebo’s founders Antonio Bojorges, Marisol Contreras, and Jose Rodriguez explained that they’re very excited and feel confident in what they’ve prepared since some teams were selected just a few months ago.

As it currently stands, Modebo provides energy monitoring devices and access to the solutions platform for its customers, and installs the devices in customers’ buildings. It then takes the results provided by those devices to provide a lucrative operations solution to its customers. The devices measure temperature, humidity, luminosity, Co2, etc and the information is then transferred wirelessly through Modebo’s own network. The information is processed through the startup’s algorithms, which calculates the most effective solution, particular to that client. Modebo can provide these solutions based off of its database, which compares energy efficiency of other buildings globally. The team believes the application also has a strong design, is very simple for users and works quickly to show customers the immense savings they could have in their hands.

In addition feeling confident about their product, Modebo’s founders are also very confident in each other.

Jose and Antonio met Marisol at the CleanTech Challenge in Mexico City in 2010, a competition for startups involved in Etech. Marisol is an architect, focusing on sustainable design and urbanism. At the time of the 2010 CleanTech Challenge, she was working with a company involved in construction waste. Jose and Antonio were electrical engineering classmates, working on a water pumps project and focusing on wireless implementation. The three joined forces and began monitoring energy efficiency in buildings to improve sustainability.

Although the co-founders greatly appreciate their differences, they admit that it was a little difficult working together at first as a multidisciplinary team. Antonio explained, “Jose and I are very concrete, type A-engineers who try to find a mathematical solution to fix something, while Marisol’s solutions are much more creative and abstract. She looks for long-term solutions—the whole picture.”

In addition, Marisol explained that it can be difficult for women to be on a male team in Mexico, but she thinks it’s better for a team to be mixed in order to get the best results—not only men and not only women.

On top of gearing up for the Startup World Competition, the team is returning to New York this fall, seeking partners in building management and the startup community. Their goal is to establish an entire branch based in New York starting in 2014, with expansion to other cities in the U.S. shortly to follow. Marisol explained, “we want to see the other businesses in places like New York, Washington D.C. and Boston that offer excellent products and we want to become one of them.

According to the team there are only 200,000 buildings in Mexico City, which is ten percent of the entire amount of buildings in the U.S. Not only are there more buildings in the U.S. that Modebo is hoping to provide solutions for, but there is also a very different culture surrounding energy efficiency. Antonio explained, “in Mexico City, businesses want to see efficiency and savings right away, whereas in the U.S., many cities are focused on benchmarking energy efficiency.” Jose and Marisol added they think they have the talent and opportunity to make an impact in not only Mexico and the U.S., but also in countries around the world with many buildings such as Brazil and India.

The startup is on its way to doing just that as it has received funding from Wayra and expects to receive government funding from CONACYT, NAFIN, and INADEM. In addition, the startup has alliances with Centro Mario Molina. Centro Mario Molina was founded after Molina won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995, along with Paul Crutzen and F. Sherwood Roland for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone.

To get in touch with the Modebo team, you can tweet @modebomx, email contacto@modebo.com.mx, or call 52 55 1616 6507.

You can also learn more at www.modebo.com.mx

This post was created by Raine Dalton, WIM’s editorial and community innovation intern. Raine is passionate about finding creative ways to empower women globally through tech. In addition to WIM, Raine has written, tweeted, and posted for the Global Banking Alliance for Women, WITNESS, and 90.7 WFUV News. You can find her work at www.rainedalton.com or get in touch with her through Twitter @rainedalton, or by emailing raine@wim.co.