Energy Aware: Taking entrepreneurship from the classroom to the real world.
To me, the real world always seemed like a faraway place, until the day when Janice Cheam, President and CEO of Energy Aware, came into our COMM 101 classroom to talk to us about her multi-million-dollar company. I suddenly realized that the real world was closer than I thought.
The idea started in a New Venture Design classroom at the Sauder School of Business, and received recognition through the Enterprize Competition at Sauder. Despite spending their winnings on food, the idea of something to keep track of how much energy a household uses was going to become a real business. At an angel investor forum, after a 5-minute presentation, they received the investment they needed to turn the idea into something tangible. At the time, they didn’t even know how much the company was worth! After many years of development and innovation, Energy Aware is currently partnered with utility providers and meter companies across the globe, from Australia all the way to Finland. Energy Aware is helping these places increase energy supply and making a positive impact on society.
That day, I realized that starting a business from scratch and making a difference was a lot less far-fetched than I thought.
Image: http://www.energy-aware.com/