As evidence of its growing momentum, St. John’s-based Mysa Smart Thermostats has been named to two elite pan-Canadian programs this month.
On Wednesday, the company was one of 10 Canadian companies named to the Lazaridis Institute’s Scaleup Program, which helps leading tech companies increase their sales. Three weeks earlier, Mysa was among the 20 companies named to the Canadian Innovation Exchange’s CIX Top 20, which recognizes Canadian tech companies on the ascent.
Mysa – whose corporate name is Empowered Homes – was the only Atlantic Canadian company named to either program this year.
“The Lazaridis [program will provide] great mentorship to bring Mysa to the next level,” said Co-Founder and CEO Joshua Green in an email on Wednesday, adding the CIX is great for recognition.
The company was founded in 2014 by Green and his brother Zachary. Its main product for the past few years has been the Mysa thermostat, which uses artificial intelligence and mobile communications to ensure optimum heat settings in homes with high-voltage heating systems, such as electric baseboard. It recently added a product for in-floor heating systems. Most automated heating controls like Nest and Ecobee don’t work on high-voltage systems.
The company has grown to 50 employees and in June raised $2.3 million to help with product development and marketing. A graduate of the Creative Destruction Lab-Atlantic, it has been financed by the Venture NL fund (which is managed by Pelorus Venture Capital), and Killick Capital.
The Lazaridis Institute is housed at Wilfrid Laurier University and will begin its fifth cohort on Oct. 17.
The program aims to help companies accelerate their growth with education and access to a global network of mentors. The Atlantic Canadian companies that previously went through the program are QRA Corp. of Halifax and Spring Loaded Technology of Dartmouth.