Atom Power's technology drew judge's attention during Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards, making it the only energy startup recognized in North Carolina.
Last month, the Charlotte-based company's digital circuit breaker, called Atom Switch, was named an honorable mention in Fast Company's energy category.
The device, which launched last year, uses semiconductors and software to intelligently control the flow of power and can be controlled remotely from any smart device, said CEO and co-founder Ryan Kennedy.
Atom Power was founded in 2014 by Kennedy and CTO Denis Kouroussis. Their product suite also includes a distribution panel called Atom Panel and software called Atom OS.
"It’s still ridiculous to me that something like this emerged from Charlotte. [Circuit breakers] have typically been one of those things no one cares about, and it’s been an uphill battle for a really long time to educate so folks understand how a change in a circuit breaker is such a huge deal," Kennedy said. "To communicate that to the Fast Company folks, and have them say they get it, was a really big deal for us."
While the company has made strides with Atom Switch, Kennedy said their operations haven't been immune to the impacts of Covid-19.
"We were in the middle of a fundraise when all of this happened, and it seriously disrupted that," he said. "We’re healthy; we’re fine, but raising money became almost impossible because of coronavirus."
Atom Power was also chosen to present its product in the SXSW Innovation Awards finalist showcase.
Though the company's focus has never been on winning awards, Kennedy said the entire team was disappointed that Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the March event. He said they spent countless hours preparing a presentation of the Atom Switch prior to the event's cancellation.
"Our whole team was involved in figuring out how we could make the demo work in such a public place in front of so many people," he said. "This would-be feat required a ton of planning, like coordinating on-site electricity and transporting our circuit breaker to and from Austin."
But the decision to cancel, Kennedy said, was certainly not one event organizers made lightly.
"Everyone involved in SXSW was impacted by this — our fellow innovative companies, filmmakers, musicians, the organizers themselves, SXSW attendees, the City of Austin and more," he said, "We're still honored to have been selected in the first place."
Despite the unexpected challenges, Kennedy said he won't let the pandemic stop his team from pushing forward.
"We’ve been able to overcome it but it’s been a big challenge. We're not able to do everything we want to do right now," he said. "We're focusing on what we have, enhancing that as much as we can."
