Van Meter Pitch Session Leads to Investment in Canadian Energy Management Startup

Van Meter Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has invested a 25% stake in Eyedro Green Solutions Inc., an Ontario, Canada-based business that produces electronic systems to monitor residential, commercial and industrial electricity consumption.

Inspired by the television show “Shark Tank,” employee-owned Van Meter hosted a four-day investment forum in June where select entrepreneurs pitched their business to Van Meter’s leadership. After a period of due diligence, Van Meter chose to invest funds in Eyedro as a separate LLC. As part of its investment Van Meter will have a seat on Eyedro’s board of directors, held  by Scott Cornish, Van Meter’s vice president of diversified business.

“Eyedro is the right fit for us because their product offering is in line with our business and provides our customers with a quality electricity monitoring solution at a fraction of the cost of what’s currently on the market. In addition, the free Eyedro cloud service allows real-time visibility to make better informed decisions about your energy usage,” Cornish said.

The Eyedro commercial and residential monitoring systems display real-time detailed data such as power usage, cost streaming, bill estimates, usage comparisons, notifications of power outages, an understanding of tenant usage and more. Data can be viewed from the cloud at any time from any device, including mobile.

The system’s advantage over competitors is its price point, which begins at $129 per building, and installation can be done in minutes without an electrician required, Van Meter said in a release.

The move means the employees of employee-owned Van Meter can expect to see continued company growth, leading to a positive effect on their stock retirement accounts, the company said.

“We can’t allow the world to evolve around us,” Cornish said. “We are fortunate to be in a strong financial position, giving us the ability to plant seeds for the future beyond our day-to-day business. We want to be generational and lay the groundwork for future employee-owners.”

This is the first time Van Meter has taken equity in another company, and Cornish foresees there being more on the horizon.