Energy Aware is a local company that was created at the Sauder School of Business. In 2005, the company, which was comprised of a mix between B-Com and Engineering students, entered and won the Enterprize Business Plan Competition. The company’s product is a device (PowerTab) which gives feedback on how much money is being spend on electricity in the home. This information is instantaneous, and the PowerTab can even be set to alert the homeowner when they reach certain rates of electricity use.

The PowerTab Display

I was fortunate enough to meet Janice Cheam, President and CEO of Energy Aware, who spoke about entrepreneurship in class. While I already knew that her company had won the Enterprize Competition, I was surprised to learn of some of the struggles she faced following the initial success. Janice was unable to go to the banks for a loan because they were not willing to invest in such a risky project. Instead she was forced to find Angel Investors, which meant giving up full ownership of the company in exchange for financial backing. This is an example of when an entrepreneur has to relinquish stock of their company, rather than just take a bank loan.