2014 CNBC Disruptor 50

What
Programmable thermostat designed to make a smarter residence, using sensors to learn behavioral patterns and create a personal temperature schedule that maximizes home-energy efficiency. 

Disrupting
Energy utilities and power-supply companies.

Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.
CEO: Tony Fadell
Year founded: 2010
Number of employees: 210
Funding: N/A
Key Investors: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Intertrust, Venrock, Generation Capital and Lightspeed

• Founder and CEO Tony Fadell led design team on first 18 generations of iPod and first three iPhones (founded Nest Labs with fellow Apple alum Matt Rogers)
• With its design simplicity and addictive nature making homeowners take a more active role in mapping their daily energy usage, Nest is aiming to do for home heating what the iPod did for a person's interaction with music
  
• Top retail partners are Lowe's, Best Buy, Amazon and Apple
  
• Less than 25 percent of U.S. population is connected to a smart grid
• Nest recently acquired MyEnergy, an online service allowing people to gather all their energy usage information and bills in one place and compare with friends and family
• Nest thermostats available in more than 80 countries
• Company estimates it has saved 750,000,000 kWh to date
• Nest thermostat costs $249