Sean Brazier, like many entrepreneurs, had an “Aha!” moment that led to the creation of his startup EDai.
That moment came after Braizer led the development of the 900-page second-round proposal to convince Amazon to select northern Virginia as its second headquarters location.
To pull together the necessary data, then tell a compelling story to convince Amazon to build its HQ2 project in Arlington, had been challenging.
“What if,” he wondered, “there was an easier way?”
“How powerful would it be if businesses that aren’t the size of Amazon had access to that type of insight around communities and assets,” he said. “And then communities had that type of access and analytics around their strengths and how they compare to other communities?”
“That was the big aha, ‘Hey, we’ve got to figure out a way to do this.’”
In January, Brazier founded EDai, a company that uses artificial intelligence and analytics to support decision makers who find themselves in the same spot as Amazon: deciding the best location for their business to grow.
Pronounced “E-D-A-I,” the name is a reference to “economic development” and “artificial intelligence.”
The company offers two services.
BEDai’s primary focus is its LocatED Portal. The platform allows small-to-medium-sized businesses and economic developers to input information like industry sector, number of expected jobs and average wages, into the portal and receive a comprehensive report to inform their location decision.
Braizer said the portal does this more quickly and in a way guided by data. EDai plans to launch the portal in June.
The other service EDai provides is its consulting services. The company recently announced a partnership with Virginia’s Gateway Region Economic Development organization to promote the Gateway Region as a top location for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing businesses.
Braizer said EDai is a way to continue his career-long focus on supporting businesses and communities.
He recently earned a doctorate from Virginia Commonwealth University studying state economic development and its effectiveness. He’s also worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company and as lead strategist for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
Brazier was recognized on the DCI 2021 Economic Development 40 Under 40 list and is currently part of Lighthouse Labs spring 2021 accelerator.
“I do believe that a tool like this can help economic developers be more efficient at selling their communities to businesses and for businesses to find locations that are outside the beaten trail and find out about them and what their strengths are, their assets,” Brazier said.