Former Nest CEO Tony Fadell says he's 'secretively' invested in more than 100 companies

Tony Fadell may no longer be the CEO of Nest, the company he founded that was folded into Google's Alphabet holding company, but he won't be idle.

In addition to staying on the board at Alphabet, Fadell told Bloomberg on Friday that he's been "secretively" investing in companies for the last decade, and has had some involvement in more than 100 other startups.

As he put it:

Over the past eight to 10 years I've been investing in companies very secretively. It's all been confidential, and it's been over 100 companies like that who have technologies, have incredibly just disruptive ideas that can change the world in a positive way, whether it's in medical or it's in consumer products or energy. In some cases I've been on the board. In some cases I helped them raise more funds or work on the marketing angles for them, the messaging, the product designs.

One company he highlighted was called Phononic:

They have an innovative solid-state cooling and heating solution. It's almost like a chip. And it replaces compressors in commercial fridges, your residential fridges, also freezers. So you can get rid of those big, ugly compressors that make a lot of noise.

He's also been involved with "Flexport, Airware, Mousera, Bump (acquired by Google) and ZEP Solar (bought by SolarCity)."

Fadell was replaced as Nest CEO on Friday, after several months of reports scrutinizing Fadell's management style and Nest's product timelines.

Read the full interview on Bloomberg here>>