Founder: Ivana Korankyi, 21
Business: Leopard Electric
What it does: A self-standing portable power station
Founded: 2017
No. employees: One
Website: n/a
Twitter: n/a
LinkedIn: n/a
Instagram: n/a
Everyone has experienced that dreaded moment – you’re already tucked into bed, but suddenly remember that your phone is only at 11%. By the glow of your screen, you awkwardly try to reach the outlet behind your bedside table, but you just cannot seem to get the charger securely in the outlet.
Ivana Korankyi, a Jamestown resident and second-year pharmacy student at High Point University, is aiming to permanently solve this problem with her product, Leopard Electric.
The size of shoebox, Leopard Electric is a self-standing power station with outlets, designed to be used anywhere, to prevent unsafe and unnecessary electrical cords and in situations where someone might be without power. Currently, Leopard Electric is a rechargeable power source, but Korankyi's goal is to eventually have it be able to generate its own power.
Korankyi first pitched Leopard Electric in 2018 as a freshman at High Point University. She credits her father, who has a background in physics and electronics, with helping her solidify her ideas and the High Point University Entrepreneur Center with helping connect her to local resources to get her business started.
Leopard Electric has received positive feedback from the Triad community. Korankyi won $2,000 for her business at High Point University’s 2018 Spring Business Plan Competition; she was a finalist for UNCG’s 2 Minute to Win It Business Plan Competition in 2020; and she won an additional $1,000 in High Point University's 2021 Spring Business Plan Competition.
Currently, Leopard Electric has its minimum viable product. The battery life ranges depending on what you plug into it – a computer should be able to get around 20 full charges while a lamp would last about six to eight hours. After gaining feedback from focus groups, Korankyi is looking to add different integrations to her product, such as a speaker, hotspot capability and Alexa. Korankyi has not yet solidified when Leopard Electric will become available for purchase and how much it will cost.
Korankyi will work with with Bright Plastics in Greensboro to design and build the outside shell of the power station, and she is sourcing other potential manufacturers to produce the inside battery.
Recently, Korankyi registered Leopard Electric as a company in North Carolina. Her next goals are to market Leopard Electric to the public and land the product’s first customers.
In addition to Leopard Electric, Korankyi also briefly attempted to start a flower subscription service called Elephant & Trunk while in college. While that business did not ultimately get off the ground, Korankyi believes it was a success as an entrepreneurial teaching moment.
How or where do you like to connect with like-minded innovators?
First, I have numerous on-campus connections, which is very convenient when you are a student. On top of that, our Center for Entrepreneurship at HPU shares programs and events around the region that prove beneficial to us as we grow our ideas into businesses. So far all of the things I have attended have been helpful in many ways.
How would you rate the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Triad?
I would rate it highly. Until I became engaged in entrepreneurship, I was not aware of all the Triad had to offer. A professor on campus sent me invitations to events. I started going and was amazed at the continuum of help available.
What’s one way that it could be better?
This is difficult to answer. This is a new discovery for me and having a developing idea has been new for me, too. I am fortunate that the director of High Point’s Center for Entrepreneurship knew of so many of these things. It made the connection quick for me. Perhaps more information on social media that reaches beyond their current users would be great or features of some success stories for us to hear about – in places where student entrepreneurs would hear and see it.
How likely is it you will stay in and grow your business in the Triad?
I am from the Triad and my plan is to stay and grow here. With all the great support I have learned of – I don’t know of anything that could lure me away.
