# Zack Schmitz

> Zack Schmitz is the co-founder and CEO of Public Grid, a renewable-energy platform that lets apartment renters switch to 100% clean electricity through their existing utility account at no added cost. A former Deloitte consultant with an MIT master's spanning electrical engineering and human-centered design, he built Public Grid (formerly Cottage Energy) to attack the unglamorous middle of the energy market: the roughly 20 million U.S. renters in deregulated states who never get a say in where their power comes from. The platform brokers clean energy in bulk, splits the savings, and follows residents from address to address.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Public Grid
- **Organizations:** Public Grid, MIT, Deloitte, Market Gravity, Greentown Labs
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Master of Science, EECS / Integrated Design & Management (engineering + human-centered design), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads Public Grid as CEO (and technical lead), Earned an MIT master's bridging electrical engineering/computer science and human-centered design, Raised pre-seed/seed funding from Redbud VC and Hamilton Ventures

## Career timeline

- **pre-2021** — Spent roughly five years as a consultant at Deloitte, becoming a Senior Consultant specializing in energy innovation; earlier innovation work at Market Gravity
- **2021** — Began graduate study at MIT focused on home electrification and energy markets
- **2021-2022** — Founded the venture that became Public Grid (originally Cottage Energy), first aimed at the single-family natural gas market
- **2022** — Pivoted to the multifamily residential market with co-founder Joe Robbins, formalizing Public Grid
- **2023** — Raised early funding from Hamilton Ventures (Q2) and Redbud VC (October); partnerships with large property owners
- **2023** — Public Grid went live in New York City
- **2024** — Completed MIT master's; scaled a distributed engineering team across Boston, Argentina, and the Philippines

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads Public Grid as CEO (and technical lead)
- Earned an MIT master's bridging electrical engineering/computer science and human-centered design
- Raised pre-seed/seed funding from Redbud VC and Hamilton Ventures
- Secured early partnerships giving access to a customer base exceeding 350,000 housing units
- Greentown Labs member company
- Grew engineering/development capacity roughly 3x while fundraising

## Latest updates

- **2023-10** — Public Grid launched in New York City and announced Redbud VC backing.
- **2023-05** — Closed seed-stage funding round.

## Links

- Website: https://onepublicgrid.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/zack-schmitz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/zack-schmitz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-20