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EMPEQ – Proud to be a Cup of Water in an Ocean of FinTech

March 14, 2019 by Empeq Leave a Comment

This past week, I had an opportunity to attend events on back-to-back nights in New York – Empire Startups March FinTech Meetup and Rise NY VC Advice: Launching, Scaling and Fundraising a FinTech Startup – and I could not be more proud to be a part of such an inspiring community of entrepreneurs.

The more people I met, the more impressed I became with how financial services is transforming right before our eyes. Whether it was in payments, virtual banking, or regulatory tech, every story I heard only drove home the fact that, with technology shifting ever so quickly, there is a seemingly bottomless opportunity to make our financial lives simpler and easier. I’m happy to say that, even though we’re bringing more speed and simplicity than ever before to commercial underwriting, EMPEQ does not have the market cornered on improving the customer experience for financial institutions.

Honestly, in the purest sense, it made me proud of our country’s characteristic American ingenuity. Just like me, every entrepreneur in attendance noticed an inefficiency in the market, knew that he/she could find a better way, and, most importantly, took the initiative to dive in head first into solving the problem. And this is despite the fact that, in all of these cases, founders eschewed safer, more comfortable lifestyles in pursuit of creating something that will make people’s lives better.

After participating in these events last week, I’m confident that fintech’s future is bright; in fact, my parting thought both nights was the same: I can’t even imagine how much improvement is coming to financial services in the next ten years. Technology really is going to make our lives better – and this group won’t rest until it does!

What’s going on with the Small and Midsize commercial energy efficiency market, anyway?

February 26, 2019 by Empeq Leave a Comment

Even though technologies are well-established and value propositions are compelling, the adoption rate of commercial energy efficiency remains low. As shown on in the figure to the left, the vast majority of US buildings built before 2008 still utilize the same energy equipment they did on the day that they opened. Among the most popular energy efficient upgrades, not one vertical could boast a penetration rate of more than 21%. In fact, this same study also found that an astonishing 61.2% of all buildings 50,000 square feet (sqft) and smaller built before 2008 have never been renovated or improved in any way. Not only is this equipment assuredly grossly inefficient, it will have undoubtedly suffered major degradation through the decades.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) lists the primary reason for this stagnant market is money. Up-front costs and the lack of well-aligned financial solutions have doomed the market.

Regarding up-front costs, entities have only so much cash available for capital projects and energy efficient upgrades routinely have not been deemed a priority. In a study of small and midsize entities, only .35% of business owners said they planned to use their available cash to “Be proactive” – the category that includes energy efficiency. This has even been in the case of failing machines well past their useful lives; building owners have preferred to pay the high and increasingly frequent service costs just to avoid the up-front capital expense of replacement. Ultimately, with limited capital insufficient for all of a business’s needs, building owners are opting to not replace items that can kept in a current suboptimal state for a fraction of the up-front cost.

While there are financing structures available to small and midsize entities that do not require up-front payment, all of the current options have substantial drawbacks. Leases, loans, and lines of credit all carry with them substantial sales friction points like time-consuming underwriting, personal guarantees, and/or a negative affect on the customer’s ability to borrow money for other projects and priorities. The most attractive solutions, specifically, those that do not affect the customer’s borrowing ability, do exist in the market; however, the high costs to underwrite customers have limited third-party ownership structures to buildings larger than 50,000 sqft and often above 250,000 sqft. Yet the market below 50,000 sqft represents 93.9% of the commercial buildings in the United States. In other words, the major players in our industry like Johnson Controls, Siemens, and Honeywell neglect 19 of every 20 commercial buildings in the US.

The only way that we can begin to address this major issue in our market is by providing a scalable, well-aligned financial solution to these small organizations. This is why EMPEQ exists: to provide a simple, swift, and safe financial solution to the small and midsize commercial market. Our proprietary Empower Visibility platform trims time and effort from the process by evaluating 81% of customers with just their corporate name and address. And EMPEQ’s UnFinancing program is a no-money down solution that never requires personal guarantees and does not affect a customer’s ability to borrow capital for other priorities.

At EMPEQ, we believe strongly in the power of energy efficiency. And it is clear to us that animation of the financial marketplace to bridge the most important gap for this currently dormant section of the market is an important first battle in the critical war of the next fifty years: the fight against climate change.

1 – https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2012/bc/cfm/b6.php; Retrieved November 8, 2018. And EMPEQ calculation of the data therein

2 – Ibid, and EMPEQ calculation of the data therein.

3 – https://aceee.org/topics/energy-efficiency-financing; Retrieved November 8, 2018

4 – “2015 Business Funding Survey: SMEs”, British Business Bank, Feb 2016. And EMPEQ calculation of the data therein

5 – https://www.eia.gov/consumption/commercial/data/2012/bc/cfm/b6.php; Retrieved November 8, 2018.

The State of Upstate New York: The Reports of Its Death are Greatly Exaggerated

February 19, 2019 by Empeq 1 Comment

Even in blizzard-like conditions, it’s always good to be home in Buffalo.

Last Wednesday, I was one of about 30 intrepid souls that braved the wind, cold, and snow to attend Upstate Capital Association’s “State of Upstate” event last Wednesday. The event was held at the Buffalo Curling Club – an organization which makes its home in a retrofitted industrial building on the southside of Buffalo. In fact, the building’s former tenant, Buffalo China, once employed my father as a laborer at the location for a short time in the late 1990s.

From the moment I arrived, I could not help but feel a deep sense of pride. I felt as though I was at the epicenter of something truly incredible. From the ashes of an industrial facility that once employed so many of Buffalo’s famed blue-collar workers just like my father, I saw a phoenix rise.

This phoenix came in the guise of the inspiring individuals in attendance: the innovative, fearless Upstate entrepreneurs and the passionate facilitators of the successes of these businesses. I was humbled to represent EMPEQ alongside the men and women who are remaking Buffalo and all of Upstate New York in a new image – one that many would have found difficult to believe just a decade ago. Considering that this comes on the heels of another inspirational entrepreneur-focused Buffalo event, hosted the previous week by our magnificent supporters at Launch New York, the narrative of the New Upstate is hard to miss.

This anecdotal evidence was only further corroborated by the keynote address of Gary Keith, a regional economist from M&T Bank. (To bring things full circle, M&T is another company that put food on my table as a young man by employing my mother as a teller for 43 years.) Gary painted a much rosier picture that, even as big of an Upstate cheerleader as I am, surprised even me. We learned that Buffalo’s Per Capita Real GDP growth between 2007 and 2018 nearly doubled national growth during the same time period. Further, Gary noted that it’s certainly not just New York’s Queen City that has experienced success recently, as both Rochester and Albany have enjoyed growth in the same time. This success is largely thanks to the replacement of much of the region’s industrial economy with industries built on the precious natural resources – students – that schools like SUNY Polytechnic Institute, University of Rochester, and Rochester Institute of Technology produce every May.

It’s an exciting time to be an entrepreneur in Upstate New York and I feel blessed that EMPEQ gets to be a part of the renaissance we’re all witnessing.

On my walk back to my car that night, as I was getting pelted by snow and accosted by winds, I couldn’t help but think how appropriate the weather really was. After all, for nearly a half-century our region has been forged by economic hardship. However, on this night, it became clear to me that the difficult lessons learned of decades past were bearing the fruit of a prosperous tomorrow.

Veteran-Led Upstate NY Startup, EMPEQ, Is Selected to Join the Founder Institute’s Exclusive Veteran Founder Lab Program

February 1, 2019 by Herbert Dwyer Leave a Comment

EMPEQ joins the largest entrepreneur network in the world for veteran-led startups

January 31, 2019, Palo Alto, CA and Ithaca, NY – The Founder Institute (http://fi.co), the world’s premier pre-seed startup accelerator, and EMPEQ (https://empeq.co/), an Upstate New York NYSERDA and LaunchNY Portfolio Company join forces to help fund and scale EMPEQ’s energy efficient project financing business globally. Veteran Founder Lab is a fundraising program that is part of the Founder Institute’s Veteran Founder Initiative. Through this initiative, EMPEQ will gain access to free programming and resources within the Founder Institute’s Global Network while receiving hands on acceleration support from Vet-Tech, a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley that helps fund and scale Veteran-led startups. With Vet-Tech headquartered at the Plug and Play Tech Center, EMPEQ sits at the intersection of two of the largest startup organizations in the world whose combined networks span over 200 Cities and 11,000 Mentors.

“Being selected for this highly competitive program is quite an honor. The best part is that we aren’t forced to relocate to Silicon Valley or New York City to access world class investors and advisers. These types of impactful resources enable EMPEQ to more efficiently create jobs and invest capital right here in Upstate NY,” says Herbert Dwyer, CEO of EMPEQ, US Marine Corps veteran, and Ithaca, NY resident. “Many Upstate NY startups believe they must leave our region to access the necessary resources needed to become successful. With programs like the Founder Institute, this is simply not the case.”

Derek LaClair, CFO of EMPEQ and native of Buffalo, NY said, “I’ve lived my entire life in a 75-mile radius here in Upstate NY and I am thrilled that EMPEQ’s inclusion in this program will allow for that trend to continue. There is no better place in our country to live and raise a family.” He continued, “We are fortunate to be counted among the countless successful companies that have found their start with the Founder’s Institute.”

As part of the Veteran Founder Initiative, veterans receive:

Funding Assistance Through Founder Lab
Founder Lab (http://founderlab.com) is a virtual advisory program that helps early-stage startups raise seed funding. Over the course of this regimented 3-month program, participants will work closely with the Founder Institute and Vet-Tech teams in Silicon Valley to improve their pitch materials, build an investor pipeline, pitch to angels, negotiate terms, and generate strong investor interest.

Scaling Assistance
Veteran-led startups will gain access to the combined global networks of the Founder Institute and Vet-Tech to scale their companies utilizing corporate partnerships, customer introductions, and a network of startup talent as part of the Initiative’s expansive global network.

The Veteran Founder Initiative was conceived by Ryan Micheletti, Director of Global Operations at the Founder Institute and Co-Founder of Vet-Tech. “EMPEQ is empowering businesses by helping them access commercial energy efficiency projects in a quick and scalable manner. This is a win-win for the both environment and the bottom-line of the businesses they serve”, says Ryan Micheletti.

Learn more about the EMPEQ at: https://empeq.co/

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About the Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (http://FI.co) is the world’s premier pre-seed startup accelerator. In the Founder Institute, you can build a company alongside a critical support network of local startup experts that are invested in your success, and through a structured and challenging business-building process that has helped our alumni raise over $700M. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used the Founder Institute to raise funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 60 countries, the Founder Institute’s mission is to Globalize Silicon Valley and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs. The Founder Institute was founded in 2009 by Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan. It is operated out of Palo Alto, California.

About EMPEQ
EMPEQ solves the three biggest problems that stop small to mid-sized organizations from taking advantage of energy efficient equipment:
1. Upfront cost
2. Time-consuming loan review
3. Burdening the balance sheet
With EMPEQ, a multi-family, commercial, nonprofit, or municipal organization can use energy efficient equipment, such as LED lighting or an air source heat pump system, without upfront cost by providing just their corporate name and address for financial review. Within 48 hours, approved organizations can simply sign a service contract with EMPEQ and then an approved contractor will perform the installation. EMPEQ uses its unique financing model and proprietary FinTech platform to help channel partners like contractors and utilities to overcome the equipment financing challenges faced by their customers.

EMPEQ MEDIA CONTACT: Herbert Dwyer, Co-Founder and CEO at EMPEQ (herbert.dwyer@empeq.co)

FOUNDER INSTITUTE MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder at the Founder Institute (j@fi.co)

PRESS KIT: http://fi.co/press

EMPEQ Named a Finalist in 76West Clean Energy Competition

June 30, 2018 by Herbert Dwyer Leave a Comment

Ithaca, NY, July 2, 2018 – Empower Equity, Inc. (EMPEQ), an energy efficiency project investment and asset management company, has been selected as one of 20 finalists in the 2018 76West Clean Energy Competition. Sponsored by NYSERDA, 76West is an unparalleled competition focused on attracting high potential clean energy startups from across the globe to compete for $2.5M in prize money.

Going into its third year of competition, 76West has already provided startups $5M in prizes and launched incredible success stories in the clean tech field. Inclusion in the 2018 competition was celebrated by EMPEQ’s CEO Herbert Dwyer; he stated that, “Being selected as a finalist in one of our industry’s most prestigious and renowned startup competitions is one of the greatest honors that we’ve received as a company. Our team is proud and excited to have been selected among so many worthy applicants.” The competition will be held from July 30 – August 1 in Ithaca, NY and will feature six winners with one grand prize of $1 million, one $500,000 prize, and four $250,000 awards.

The competition’s goal of furthering economic development in New York’s Southern Tier region struck a chord with EMPEQ’s President / CFO Derek LaClair. He said, “As a company whose three core founders are native to New York State, we are particularly moved to be included in a program so closely associated with the renaissance that we’ve seen Upstate in the past decade.” EMPEQ was founded and currently has major operations in the Southern Tier region.

About EMPEQ

Incorporated in 2016, EMPEQ is changing the way customers become more energy efficient. We provide modern energy efficient equipment to small and mid-size businesses and municipalities through a subscription service. Our approach will finally bring financial efficiency to energy efficiency because it requires no up-front payments from the customer, removes all ownership and performance risk, and the process is automated, streamlined, and simple to understand.

For more information on EMPEQ visit www.empeq.co.

Contact

Herbert Dwyer, CEO
EMPEQ
(347) 903-6737
herbert.dwyer@empeq.co
www.empeq.co

The Case for “Efficiency First”

April 4, 2018 by Derek LaClair Leave a Comment

I’ve got a hypothetical question for you—

Question: Would you go out and buy an entirely new wardrobe if you knew for a fact that you were about to drop 50 pounds in the next six months?

Answer: Of course not. You’d end up with clothes that were way to big for the new you.

So let me pose a not-so-hypothetical question—

Question: Why have we focused our effort and attention on the adoption of renewable generation when most are sized to artificially large building loads?

Answer: Well, the Department of Energy (DOE) has found adoption rates for energy efficient infrastructure has lagged in nearly every pertinent equipment market—equipment that effect and/or make up the majority of a building’s energy usage.

However, as this inefficient infrastructure naturally ages out and/or innovative business models like Empower Equity’s (EMPEQ) UnFinancing℠ program aid in market adoption, these building energy loads will inevitably drop in the next five to ten years. Yet, we have advocated for assets with assumed lives of 20 – 25 years to supply the generation for this same building stock at current energy usage levels.

I have always been an enormous advocate for renewable generation and firmly believe this is the key to unlocking a sustainable future.

Still, building owners should always consider efficiency measures as their first priority when retrofitting their building site. Only after 60W fluorescent lights are retrofitted with 18W LED lights, a 93%-efficient combined heat and power (CHP) machine is providing hot water as well as producing baseline electric consumption as a byproduct—or 60%-efficient boilers are replaced with 95%-efficient products can we fully understand the building’s true energy profile for 2018.

With these long-lived, efficient assets in place, we can properly size our even longer lived generation assets to our new “slimmed-down” building—thereby creating a truly sustainable solution for the next decade or longer.

All advocates in our industry agree that the goal is to achieve a more sustainable energy infrastructure. On the other hand, if we are installing generation assets for artificially inflated loads, nobody wins in the long run.

Ultimately, the lesson here is simple: efficiency first.