We want to do what Airbnb did for the hotel industry and use the power of a connected sharing economy to rapidly expand the grid: Esmond Goei (of Power Hero) said while interacting with The Silicon Review

“Power Hero is a great opportunity to get in on the EV wave.”

The EV market is growing rapidly with enormous amounts of private and public capital flooding in to support. Auto manufacturers build at maximum capacity while consumers patiently sit on waiting lists to receive new vehicles.

However, the charging infrastructure is still way behind.  The response so far has been clumsy as more and more money gets thrown at expensive charging stations designed to pump electricity like gasoline.

This effort is problematic as it offers no near-term hope of meeting today's demand and leaves behind a wake of millions who live in multi-unit residences looking for more convenient solutions.

But what if there was a more intelligent approach? What if we could more intelligently share the electricity that is everywhere? Would it give rise to an Airbnb-type approach where residents, businesses, and landlords could easily offer existing electricity to those who need it?

With that said, we’re thrilled to present Power Hero, a California-based clean-energy company developing hardware and software solutions to help build a more intelligent and diverse charging grid for electric vehicles. It serves clients in the United States and is working to expand globally.

Power Hero was founded in 2017.

The Silicon Review reached out to Esmond Goei, who’s the co-founder and CEO of Power Hero, and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

Q. What strategies does Power Hero implement to unlock the full potential of the electric vehicle market?

Electricity is not like gasoline. It is literally everywhere! EV drivers should be able to charge everywhere they park, and not have to queue up at a gas station. Our patented Cameo^™ and ePort^™ technology allow anyone to network, broker, and reserve existing power, whether that be a public charger, a private charger, or a simple 120V outlet. Our solutions use the power of connectivity to harness the vast amounts of electricity already available. Harnessing today’s network of private chargers and existing power drops will flex the charging opportunities 100-fold for EV drivers.

The Power Hero intelligent solutions are supported by a broad patent portfolio. Moreover, our hardware allows anyone to network any power source to EV drivers. As more intelligent P2P charging networks grow and more businesses and landlords seek to offer solutions, Power Hero technology will provide the backbone to make it all possible.

Q. Can you introduce us to your innovative EV charging solutions? What are their key features?

Our flagship product is the Cameo^™. It’s an adapter that secures onto any Level-2 charger and networks it to our cloud servers. This allows drivers to see the status, reserve, and pay for charging (if necessary). 

Our ePorts^™ serve a similar purpose for overnight charging, connecting any 120V or 240V outlet to our cloud. This allows landlords of multi-tenant apartment buildings to easily provide reservable charging options for tenants and provision them appropriately. For that matter, even cafes and restaurants can enable their electrical outlets for reservable power for portable devices.

Q. How does Power Hero raise funds? What are various sources available for the company to raise capital?

Thus far, we have raised funds from angel investors and crowdfunding platforms. Funds have been used to successfully prototype our Cameo, ePort, and cloud platform. We have four patents issued and several more pending.

Q. Tell us about the Power Hero team. What value do they bring to the company?

We have a broad team that incorporates expertise and experience in communications honed at leading companies such as Cisco, banking such as TD Canada Trust, venture capital with the Singapore government, healthcare such as O2 Concepts, and online billing systems as with the City of Santa Clara, Silicon Valley. For myself, I have been blessed with founding, co-founding, turning around, and/or investing in several startups and turnarounds that have resulted in successful IPOs and/or sales.

This wealth of experience enables us to wade through the challenges of creating unique technology/products, while simultaneously raising and prudently deploying funds through crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. We have thrived with less than $1 million of funding since our inception in 2017.

Q. Will Power Hero be expanding, bringing on any new solutions that we should be aware of?

We are excited about two new products coming down the pipe.

Our PowerPacTM is currently under development and will enhance solutions for pre-EV, older multi-tenant buildings, by providing Level-2 charging on existing power infrastructure. This will make it extremely easy to give this under-served market meaningful access to charging.

Our patented mobile mStationTM solution will provide on-call, on-the-spot charging. It will also give utility companies flexibility to deploy power for events and unplanned grid outages. With the onset of autonomous vehicles, the future of mobile stations is limitless. They require no real estate, or power lines for delivery, making them very cost-effective and flexible solutions.

Q. What's the one thing you want Power Hero to be known for? 

We want to do what Airbnb did for the hotel industry and use the power of a connected sharing economy to rapidly expand the grid. You don’t need expensive infrastructure; we just need intelligent solutions. Power Hero will network existing grid power points and allow people to share existing power more easily.

Q. Is there anything else you want us to highlight that we might have missed?

Much of the public missed out on Tesla and other high-flying EV manufacturing companies. Power Hero is a great opportunity to get in on the EV wave. We have an exciting portfolio of patented products that complements a high-growth industry led by companies like Chargepoint, EVgo, Wallbox, and Blink. More importantly, Power Hero makes grid access better and smarter. We look forward to partnering with these companies to deliver better solutions to EV drivers. Stay tuned by registering on www.powerhero.com.

Esmond Goei | CO-Founder & CEO

Esmond Goei is a serial entrepreneur with many successful startups and turnarounds spanning over 30 years. He started Power Hero in 2017 after selling a modular solar-powered battery systems company, which he founded in 2009, and was CEO until 2016. Esmond has participated in several other emerging companies with successful gains upon their IPO or sale such as a multi-media processing company (IPO 1991), a wireless hospital bedside information systems company (IPO 1992), an organic baby foods company that was sold to Heinz, and an electronics toy company (IPO 1995). He has delivered outstanding gains on investment to his investors with many IPOs and sales of his invested companies some of which garnered valuations over a billion dollars.

Esmond Goei is an electrical engineer with an MBA from Western University.

“We have an exciting portfolio of patented products that complements a high-growth industry led by companies like Chargepoint, EVgo, Wallbox, and Blink. More importantly, Power Hero makes grid access better and smarter. We look forward to partnering with these companies to deliver better solutions to EV drivers.”