Spotlight on Mysa: Helping Homeowners Lower Their Energy Consumption (and Bills)

Having a strong desire to give to people a smart thermostat solution that didn’t already exist was what motivated Joshua and Zach Green to start Mysa, a company that develops smart thermostats to consumers. For them it wasn’t an instance of wanting to start a business necessarily but felt like they had to since a system didn’t exist in the marketplace that allowed people to control their high voltage heating systems (electric baseboard systems) which are prevalent in places like Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and British Columbia.

Brothers, Joshua and Zach both have an engineering background and only graduated in 2013 (Joshua) and 2016 (Zach). With their backgrounds in mechanical engineering and their passion for helping homeowners become energy efficient to save money and the environment, Joshua started a consulting business that conducted home energy audits for individuals in St. John’s, Newfoundland. From the audits he would provide clients with a comprehensive, customized report that included steps that would upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes. This experience is really what acted as a springboard for Joshua and Zach’s idea of Mysa to come alive.

With his experience as a consultant, Joshua gained an understanding of the challenges that many Canadian homeowners face including high costs for electric heating. “The average 2,000 square foot residence in Newfoundland and Labrador consumes 20,000 KWh of energy for heating each year,” Joshua explained. “This tremendous amount of energy would be enough to drive an electric vehicle roundtrip from St. John’s to Victoria, British Columbia approximately eight times!” It’s alarming statistics like this that inspired Joshua and Zach to develop technology that would help those within their community and beyond.

However, deciding to start a business and develop a product is one thing, but actually doing it and having the financial means to do so is another. Joshua explained that one of the biggest challenges for Mysa has been acquiring the financial capital required to begin production of the Mysa hardware. In order for the business duo to get financial capital and validate the market demand for Mysa, they collected online pre-orders from consumers which provided the necessary financial leverage to begin the manufacturing process of the thermostats.

The financial assistance that Mysa acquired from investors and funding partners like Futurpreneur Canada has been essential to their success as it allowed them to build a talented marketing and engineering team. It has also helped them transform their idea into an actual product that will be in homes across North America. “Futurpreneur has been very instrumental to our success. It was the first organization to give us financial support,” they shared. “With the assistance from Futurpreneur, we were able to expand from a start-up of two co-founders to a team of 12 employees which continues to grow.”

To date, Mysa has hit 600 units sold which is a huge milestone for Joshua and Zach. There first smart thermostats will be shipped in October and the business duo is thrilled to see so much interest in their product. “We know we have a good product and we’ll make a significant impact on energy use across North America,” they shared.

Joshua and Zach wanted to leave other aspiring entrepreneurs looking to disrupt the marketplace the following advice: “Solve a problem. Validate your market. The best advice for any entrepreneur is to offer a product or service that people really need, so there’s a true product-market fit. While conducting energy audits, I saw that many local homeowners were looking for a compatible smart thermostat for their house. A little research shows that one in three homes in Canada has a high voltage heating system, so there is definitely a market for Mysa.”

Mysa’s smart thermostats can be pre-ordered online at www.getmysa.com.

Written by: Lauren Marinigh, Social Media & Content Specialist, Futurpreneur Canada