🎙️ EP57: Flipping the Switch: Tracy O'Rourke's Clean Energy Bet | InvestHer Podcast

Hi there. Welcome or welcome back to InvestHer Podcast. I'm Anne Ravanona, your host and funding friend, and I'm so glad you're here. InvestHer Podcast exists for one reason: to share the real, unfiltered stories of funded women founders, investors, and ecosystem changemakers from around the world, and to give them the visibility and airtime they deserve. Because here's what we know: women are building extraordinary businesses. Women and men are writing checks leading funds that invest in women founders. And yet their stories are still too often missing from the conversation. We're here to change that. Every episode, I sit down with someone who's in the trenches of building, funding, or backing women-founded ventures. And we talk about the real stuff, the pivots, the rejections, the fundraising lessons nobody tells you about, and the wins, because there are plenty of those too. Whether you're a founder navigating your first funding round, an investor looking to do better, or simply someone who believes we need more women building, scaling, and investing in women-founded businesses, this podcast is for you.

Now, I can't wait for you to hear this.

Let's dive in.

60%.

That's how much energy waste Tracy O'Rourke found in a brand new state-of-the-art office building. Not a relic, not a factory, a shiny modern headquarters wasting more than half its energy. That's the problem she built Vivid Edge to solve. No upfront capital, no excuses, no waiting for someone else to fix it. She's a Kärcher Women's Initiative Fellow, an InvestHer Summit 2024 pitch competition winner, and she raised €550,000 in 6 weeks after 2 years of closed doors in her face. by simply deciding she was done waiting. Whether you're a founder who needs to hear that the right moment is the one you create yourself, or an investor looking for a compelling opportunity in the climate space, this one is for you. Let's get into it.

Welcome, Tracy. I'm super happy to have you with us.

Oh, Anne, thanks so much. I'm just so thrilled to be here with you. And just want to thank you hugely for all that you do. And I said, I've only this year got involved in the investor community, and the mission is me away, but not just the mission, um, the energy in the room at the event that was here in Dublin this May was absolutely phenomenal. And what you had was a group of men and women, but it was predominantly women, but just celebrating and supporting, um, you know, uh, women entrepreneurship, you know, in business. And, um, you know, it was just a joyful, collaborative, supportive vibe, but also some seriously high-caliber presenters, speakers, and attendees. So like the quality of the conversation was really, really good. And I just want to shout out that I really enjoyed it. And I'm kind of delighted to be part of this community because I think those communities are so important for anyone on an entrepreneurial journey.

Well, thank you. If I could have paid you to say that, it would— I wouldn't— you wouldn't have said it any better, but I didn't. So just to say that, thank you so much, Tracy. And, you know, we really put a lot of love and care into everything we do. So Investor Summit was Amazing. It was extra special this year. I totally agree with you. I don't know if it's because we're in home turf, but also I think I just— it was something very special. And we look forward to the next ones too. And so you— we were delighted to be able to honor you as one of the winners of the Global Investor Pitch Competition. Well done, because the competition was hard and you rose to the top. Our jury were blown away by you. So without further ado, let's get to know you a little bit better. So Tracy, tell us a little bit more about your background and what made you start Vivid No, absolutely.

Uh, thanks so much, Anne. First of all, I don't remotely come from an entrepreneurial background. Um, I come from a background where, you know, the objective was to get a job in a big, large organization, get a qualification, and then work for a large organization. So I basically worked in large corporates, um, you know, most of my career, very, very happily. But I think as, as I got, um, as I got more advanced in my career, I, I got to a point where maybe I was successful on paper but maybe starting to feel a little unfulfilled. And I realized, uh, for me, I wanted to do something something that had perhaps more of a purpose, something that was going to give back to the world and also be, um, maybe a bit more innovative than, than what I felt I was doing. Um, and then also what happened was, um, I got the, you know, absolutely incredible opportunity to visit Africa, and, um, I came across, um, some amazing women and children. And what I witnessed there was this gross inequity that, um, those who are most impacted by climate harm— so we're really talking women and children here, and often in Africa—

Yeah.

They're the ones who least cause it. And, you know, there's just something so wrong about that.

Yeah.

So, you know, I was thinking, you know, to solve this problem, I mean, it could be— there's lots of different people working to solve it, but I thought really, you know, let's address those who most cause it, which is like big business. And I was thinking, you know, I think maybe I can help. And so really what I— in doing my research, investment into this climate space was sort of very much underinvested. The whole wind and solar side, they call that renewables, was actually getting a lot of attention. But efficiency, which is getting rid of energy waste, is about 40% of the solution. That really wasn't getting attention at all. Very disaggregated, and funding models hadn't really yet evolved. So I thought maybe we could adopt— I'd worked in the leasing world, and I later worked in the aircraft leasing world, and I thought maybe we could adopt that model to challenge the energy performance contracts, which hadn't really had widespread take up. So, um, really that was kind of sowing the seeds. But what I'll also say to, um, budding would-be entrepreneurs out there is it took me a good 5 years, um, after, um, really wanting to make that move to actually making that move. And that's because nobody in my world thought it was a good idea. You're like, not, not my family, not my friends, no one, my work colleagues, because I wasn't from that world, you know. So, um, and, you know, I got a great piece of advice along the way I always give to other people, and that is, you know, don't really take advice from another person unless they've actually done what you're seeking to achieve.

Oh, so good. It's so true because as an entrepreneur as well, like, it's true, my family, like, most of them don't know. My mum doesn't know what the hell I do. She kind of has an idea, but she does say she's proud. But if you're not an entrepreneur in the thick of it, you know, choosing a problem and a specific angle of a problem to work on and then you know, working away tirelessly behind the scenes without the glory. It's lovely when glory comes, and we're going to talk about your glory because you've had lots of wonderful recognition and very well deserved. But it, it's true, only other entrepreneurs can really understand you.

Yeah.

Um, so that's— it's a good message to say, like, okay, you took your time, you took 5 years, it was well thought and well prepared to kind of take the jump. Um, and yeah, that was your journey into it. So how did you drill down then? So you're taking your background from leasing, from financial and say, okay, there's, there's a, there's a niche here in climate change and climate action that I can take. How did you drill down on the problem to solve with VividEdge, Tracey? Because that's not easy, isn't it? I know it's really hard to find, like drill down exactly what part of the problem to solve.

Yeah. So the problem I wanted to solve was simply reduce, reduce energy consumption. Um, in buildings, um, by, by companies, by large companies. And, um, so, um, and, you know, it's really funding that. Um, what I might do just to explain what we do is just tell you a little, a little story. Yeah. Um, this is a customer, so, and obviously I had to research and understand what was going on in the market, but like, we have a customer just as an example, and this would be a very large multinational, and they have large— they have European headquarters in Ireland, as, as do many companies. So it's a, it's a great place to part of business that you'd like to move internationally. So the estate of the Arts Office is less than 10 years old, so imagine it's very shiny and very kind of edgy looking. And would you believe we found 60% energy waste or scope to reduce their energy consumption by 60%? Yeah, so we didn't expect that, and nor did they. So some of the reasons for that would be, we've got to accept the staff were treating the building a bit like a hotel, so it was lighting and heating on all the time.

Yeah.

You know, they weren't using sensors or controls to turn off lighting if, you know, when someone walks out of a room. But also, and we see this a lot in buildings, equipment like their cooling equipment grossly oversized for their needs. So maybe 3 times as big as really it should be. They were still using fossil fuels rather than, say, a heat pump. And so scope to reduce more carbon there. But just generally, that building was never designed and it wasn't managed through an energy lens. So the first really message to get across is that even really big, large organizations organizations with lots of expertise, they don't all— a lot of them are really surprised with the amount of energy they're actually wasting.

So what you're saying is, like, if you think about it, it's coming down to the design phase. So surely the architects, we need to work on them too. Like, it's not just the corporates who then buy the building and lease the building, whatever, but it's chicken and egg, isn't it? We need—

we all— Yeah, and I don't know if it's— yeah, I don't know if it's the architects or whatever, but it's just, you know, the mandate at the time the building was put together, it was probably you make this amazing place to work, make it a really comfortable, amazing workplace. But the mandate wasn't necessarily, you know, make it energy efficient. So yeah, so just— but the really, really good news about this is that you can transform a building within 12 months. You can completely transform the energy footprint, and it doesn't have to be that complicated. So the challenges that we help solve— we started off with an innovative funding model. So just to jump back to what we do, because what we do is we help help businesses find their energy waste, and then we will solve it. So we will upgrade the equipment that is consuming energy. So that's your heating, your cooling systems, your lighting system. We can put solar on the roof. You'll maybe have kind of an energy management system. Or if it's a manufacturing operation, you're getting into things like maybe waste heat recovery and some slightly more complex processes. But ultimately, it's to try and reduce how much energy a building is consuming. So I guess the innovation in our model is that I really wanted adopt, you know, an operating lease, you know, which is like a lease for maybe, you know, an aeroplane that has a full maintenance contract, you know, attached to it. I wanted to adopt that, but the challenge was with these types of assets, you know, like a new lighting system or a new boiler, you don't really have a recoverable asset. They're kind of integrated into the building and you don't really have something to recover. So the challenge was being able to get 100% finance for that. So we put together quite an innovative structure and we do have and do provide 100% finance for these projects. And our customers have absolutely no obligation until after the equipment is installed. So we take performance risk, we take installation risk. And really what they're doing is they're outsourcing to us expertise, they're outsourcing their time because busy building managers have got a lot of pressing, you know, day-to-day, you know, responsibilities.

Yeah.

And they can outsource something like energy is really non-core for a lot of businesses. And a lot of businesses we work with have a lot of capital, but they want to prioritize that for their core business. So like a telecommunications company wants to invest in 5G technology, you know, not in the boiler. And we also do projects where the customer fully funds it upfront, you know, if they wish. But we started off as an investment funding model, and then we realized we had to branch out to help find the energy waste and to maybe give a little bit more of our resources for the implementation because the model on its own wasn't fully solving the problem. There was sort of an education piece we needed to branch into as well. And I would also say, Anne, that we were definitely early to market. And I would say that really it's post-COVID the business has really, really taken off, you know.

So when did you start Vivid Edge then, Tracey?

Our first contract was way back in 2017, right, which is a long time ago now. And we reached— we probably faced a couple of headwinds because the initial structure we put together, which was very like an operating lease, and I am an accountant by training, but new accounting rules rendered it not really viable. And I was devastated because I thought these accounting rules are stopping a huge amount of progress in the energy space. So we had to kind of reinvented, basically. So we reinvented, and then COVID landed, and our, uh, whole market shut down for 2 years. So we were— we had to, uh, bootstrap and get through that. But we got through that, we got out the other side, and, um, we've really seen some tremendous growth triggered by the energy crisis and then more recently triggered by regulation.

Well, that's it, because now a lot of governments around the world, like, we have made commitments to net zero. We have to, we've no choice. We've already overheating. We see the consequences of climate change every day. And as you say, the people who are most affected are women and girls, you know, around the world. And there's lots of, thankfully, lots of data. But we've got to start working, you know, on this. It's no longer good enough to say, oh, sure, we'll wait, or that it's in 2050, I'll be dead long before. Well, no, you know, we have to do it. What kind of a world are we leaving to our children and grandchildren?

Yeah.

But I mean, just even for now, because I mean, I don't need to explain to you all the changes in climate change. So this is like a really, really important thing. But I think how— I know you're going to be very busy for the foreseeable future, you know, as many governments make these commitments. I know Ireland has made some commitments and to the EU to hit net zero and to go better. But as you say, We have to kind of educate upstream, midstream, downstream. It's not so easy. You know, there's, there's along the way, not everybody's on the same journey to getting to net zero. Not everybody cares. Except, as you say, if you're a big corporate, suddenly you're going to have your shareholders saying, uh-uh. And in the annual report, they're saying they have to now account for what are they doing. So that, that I hope is good business for you moving forward.

Yeah, like we've really seen, and what we've seen, like the energy crisis definitely creates a surge and then it wanes a little bit because prices have come back a bit. But what's really attractive about our model is, you know, by and large, because we spread the cost over, say, 10 years, they're long-term contracts, we generally structure our projects so that the energy savings will more than cover our service fee. There's no upfront capital for the customer. So it's actually a self-funding model. It's very, very attractive. Now, you know, you won't get that in every single instance.

No.

In some buildings, depending on what the kind of energy baseline is, depending what they're starting with, and particularly where you're trying to put in, say, heat pumps, because the cost of— you're moving from the cost of gas, which is quite cheap, to the cost of electricity, which is a little bit more expensive. But if you can combine solar with that, sometimes the economics can work out really well. And also you throw in a grant, you know, can work. So honestly, the business case is quite compelling. But absolutely, the drivers, we've seen 2 core drivers. One is people who are owners of commercial properties are finding and have come to us saying, look, we need to get the building energy rating up to an A or a B because our commercial tenants won't renew the lease if we don't make that commitment because they have to count now what we're doing. So that's been quite a driver. And then really only, and I would say that's in the last 2 years, but the other CSRD is supply chain. And really only in the last, I'd say, 6 months, we have suppliers to some of the big multinationals coming to us and they are saying, uh, our— the big multinational is telling us that they are now counting, you know, our emissions, you know, the supply chain.

Yes.

So, um, so we have to get our emissions down and we don't want to use our capital for that. It's very non-core. So, um, our model is perfect for them as well. So, uh, we— it's really recently that, um, we've— like, the intent was there, but it hadn't translated into action. now it has. So, um, and Ireland, you know, has a bit of catch-up to do. We rank quite low, um, we rank quite low across Europe, but this isn't just an Ireland problem. So I'm speaking, I'm speaking across Europe and speaking internationally. Everybody's got to do it. I am a huge, um, proponent of, um, so much more is possible if we can just open up our minds to, you know, different and better ways of thinking. And there can be amazing solutions out there, you know. And look, if you haven't done nothing, if you've done nothing until now, the past is the past, don't worry about that, just start now, you know. And, and there's lots of people and lots of innovations coming to the fore, and all we can do is start where we are and, you know, move forward. So, oh, I love that, you know.

Yeah, I love that. And I think that's a very important message even for, for, for all the women entrepreneurs listening to us, but also to investors and funders and the big corporates. You know, we can always— every single day that we get is a fresh start, it is a blank page. So yes, we can build on the experience and the expertise that we have from the past. But we really do need to see it's like every day in every way we can take action moving forward and propel forward and not to be stuck in the past. And I like that because, yeah, it's true that in the industry within that you're in, there is a big part of regulation, there's a big part of peer pressure or customer pressure, as you say, as well. And it can be very doom and gloom. So it's good for you to be kind of saying, oh, this is an opportunity. And, you know, we can do this. And And what I like about your model is also that it, it really sounds like a partnership with those organizations.

It is.

And I like, you know, and I like also the way what you're sharing, we're seeing in more and more industries where it is the main customer, but then it's in their supply chain because we're now going down the next level, the next level. So that creates more opportunity and even more opportunity for other women-owned businesses to partner with you to help those, you know, those big corporates to get up to speed and up to the, to the regulated level that they need to be?

Yeah, I think a business, um, you know, like obviously partnership is one of the Sustainable Development Goals. You know, a business is only truly sustainable if everybody in the value chain wins. And we're very much about, um, doing things well. You know, uh, customer service is really important, high-quality technologies we insist on. So, um, but also that, you know, everyone, suppliers get a fair price, and, you know, the team are treated well and fairly. And they're the foundations that a really, really long-term sustainable business is built. And this is— Vivid Edge is about building a long-term sustainable business, and we have long-term relationships with our customers. So, um, I think they're really, really important principles. And I do think often, um, I do think often they're principles that, you know, women like to build their businesses on. And I think— I know you're going to move on to funding shortly, but I want to make just a point that it's really important, um, that then your funding partner's values align, because the model of like, um, you know, like extreme and exponential growth at all costs in the short term, um, you know, is— but then that might be what, say, an investor may want, you know, the 10x. Um, but actually, um, a business that's going to be really sustainable for the long term might take a slightly different journey.

Yeah.

Um, and we certainly— we were quite, like, flat for a while, um, and while we were navigating different channels, but we're in high growth now, but we're very well positioned and we've got a really, really robust model so we can afford to be very high growth because those principles are in place, those principles that, you know, the right model, and where we have a really robust value chain where there's something in for the suppliers, our customers, our team, our investors. So yeah, I think they're just really important principles for anyone who's putting a business plan together out there.

Yeah, definitely. And I love that you've called them out as also strengths when it comes to women entrepreneurs. It's true that we are very good at that type of Creating that ecosystem around us and thinking beyond just profit and the here and now. We're always thinking a little bit longer term, which is part of your model as well.

Yeah, yeah. And there have been some men who have done that amazingly well. I want to shout out to someone like Paul Polman in Unilever. I mean, I'm a huge fan of his principles, and he brought it back to what was the purpose of our products when we first started, and let's bring it back to purpose. So again, a purpose-led organization tends to be a good one, you know.

And you can hear the passion in your voice, Tracy. I love that. It is, it it is. People can hear and feel the purpose, you know, um, when, when it's really built in, in you. And so, but before we get on to the funding question, I know that you have won many awards, not just the Investor Summit pitch competition, but tell us a little bit more about the recognition that you've received from the industry, um, in general, uh, and in general so far, because I know it's not the end. There'll be more coming.

Oh, we've been very— thank you so much. We've been, um, you know, the, the awards are lovely because the, you know, an entrepreneurial journey can be you're digging in the trenches for a long time, and a win can seem a long way away after a lot of effort. So the awards are lovely milestones, you know, to mark. Um, I'm going to mention Cartier. I was really fortunate. Cartier run this global program, and they pick 3 women per continent, um, each year, and they bring you together into kind of a 12-month program. But it's, it's an ongoing relationship. So I was very fortunate in 2019 to be a fellow, um, and participated, and they have just been incredible. They've, first of you know, the community of women entrepreneurs that are, you know, globally, and the vibe is inspiring, uplifting, you know, just supporting one another. So again, having not come from, um, a background with entrepreneurs around me, that has just been really magical. Um, you know, and again, and, you know, the only community I've seen really like that actually is the one that's, you know, you're creating now with InvestHer. I got a similar vibe there. So, um, that's just been absolutely incredible and continues to be. I'm going to Going to Bilbao next week for an impact fest, and you know Cartier are sponsoring that for a number of us to go down. And you know there's been various gatherings and events and trainings. So that community, I think it's really, really it's been an important part of my journey. You know, and on a low day, being part of that kind of a community, you know, is really good.

Oh, I'm so glad you called them out because I see Cartier as one of the gold standards in the world when it comes to organizations. really supporting women entrepreneurs in a very, very big way. I would add EY and Dell as well into that pack in different ways. Um, and each has its own flavor, but they're all— what's the common denominator is the quality of the fabulous women that they attract and support.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, seriousness in supporting the— putting the resources around, around those— around fabulous women such as yourself. So I'm delighted you call out Cartier because Because they are fabulous. We have— I cited them in the recent funding blueprints that I created for Dell Technologies and DWIN, the Dell Women Entrepreneur Network. So I've done funding blueprints of 9 cities in the world, of the best cities in the world for women entrepreneurs and specifically for funding. And Cartier is that program that I do, you know, I've called out a few times.

Oh no, it's wonderful. There's another lady here in Ireland, Paula Fitzsimons, that runs Going for Growth. So I've been part of that as well. And in fact, I was really really lucky to be a part of a delegation of 12, um, Irish women entrepreneurs brought to Chicago for a week earlier on this year to explore opportunities to expand our business. I think Enterprise Ireland was kind of behind that as well. So, um, that, that was amazing. And there's another one called Unreasonable, uh, Barclays, um, Bank. And, um, the idea being that to solve the world's greatest problems, you need to have an unreasonable way of thinking. So that was another, um, invitation-only program that we were delighted to participate in. And we've won a few local awards like, um, the Business and Finance ESG Awards, the Green Energy Awards, the Small Farms Association Awards, a number of different ones. I won't bore you with the list, but we're very excited this year because we were actually invited— we have been invited to apply for the Earthshot Award 2025. So that's obviously a really incredible award, and we're very, very, very excited to send an application in for that one. We'll see how it goes.

Definitely. I'll help you. I'm a nominator on there, and I'm very proud.

Oh, wonderful.

Yeah, we I put forward 8 incredible women entrepreneurs last year, and one of them made it to the top 15 finalists in the world. So she's superb. And they're all fantastic because I only put forward fabulous women. So we can keep talking about that afterwards. Amazing.

And so well deserved for her. Yeah.

Oh, really, really so, so proud. And that's Nina, Nina Granucci from Green Spot Technologies. For those of you who don't know, you can learn more about her. So back to us because we're here again. again, um, on the edge with you at Vivid Edge. I want to now circle back to your funding journey so far, Tracy. How has it been? Tell us a little bit more about that.

Well, Anne, any entrepreneur listening to this podcast will know that you spend an inordinate amount of time on funding. You know, it just goes with the territory, you know, and you've got to navigate so many, I guess, uh, you know, dead ends before you find, you know, the right But I'd also encourage anyone listening to say that, you know, it's a two-way selection process. You know, like, it's a marriage. It's not one person, you know, choosing. And for me, a cultural fit was really, really important. It has always been really important. And we've actually said no to an investor at a time when we literally were down to nothing in the bank account because we started feeling that maybe in the advanced discussions, we were literally down to final contracts, that maybe we weren't the right fit after all. So we've never regretted that decision. that decision. So people advise you when you're starting off to raise funds from friends and family, and I didn't initially feel I could start there. I put some money in myself, um, and I wanted to talk about, um, ultimately having then tried the VC world for maybe a couple of years, we decided that that wasn't the right fit for us. Um, and I talked about there being, you know, finding the right just cultural fit or just overall fit. Um, so, um, we ended up then going for high net worths, and we ran our own programme. You can get third-party companies to run these programmes where an investor can get some tax relief, you know, and so that's called EII in Ireland and a similar name in the UK. So we ran an EII process ourselves, and you'll smile at this, Anne, because having spent about 2 years Um, uh, you know, nearly raising finance with a number of people and then for various reasons just not closing the deal. Um, we then closed quite a significant contract, and I— it's amazing how so much of this is, I think, the mental game, because that contract was closed, say, October one year, and I said, right, I'm taking matters, you know, into our own hands. We're going to run our own EII. We're going to just reach out to people, and we'll see how we go. And, um, after 2 years of kind of not getting anywhere, we filled that entire EII $555K from, um, from 7 different investors, and we did this in 6 weeks.

Wow.

And, um, and then Enterprise Ireland, who've been terrific, they'd given us a feasibility grant beforehand, but then they came in for $250K to match fund. So, um, it was phenomenal. And I, I actually don't know what happened when I look back, but I kind of just— something flicked and I said, we are just so doing this. Um, and, and also people had said said to us, it's way too late in the year. You know, in Ireland, Christmas time, you know, uh, you know, things are going to be winding down. You know, you're not going to be getting people's attention. You're too late. You know, so, um, but we just did it, and, uh, it was just phenomenally exciting. And they have been, um, incredible, incredibly supportive. So these are individuals who, um, believe in our vision, um, are really supportive of what we've been doing. You know, were patient with us through COVID. good, um, just really values-aligned, terrific, uh, high net worths. And since then, we've taken on, I'd say, 3 more high net worths, um, you know, so, um, big, you know, up to probably about $2 million.

Mm-hmm.

And we are doing a funding round at the moment, so I haven't yet— and we, we now— I know I should separately say we have, um, raised also separately raised institutional funds for our projects. So we have 2 different project funding facilities that probably total about €50 million. And that's, that's separate and that's special to us and it's probably not as interesting to other people. It's a different animal. But, you know, we've institutional funds raised for projects, so just kind of 2 separate processes.

No, but that's interesting. I mean, it— what I love though in what you've shared is it's actually— I want to circle back to what you said. And you said, well, I just decided we were going to do it. And I'm like, it's like you had this light bulb moment or whatever it was What is it that changed in your head, Tracy, when you said, now that's it, enough messing, I'm doing this?

I don't know, it was a kind of an impatience or something. Well, I just thought, but then I, you know, just, I was just frustrated by the whole processes, and I just said that we're doing this. And by the way, what I, what I just, and, you know, I had said, look, there's no way I'm asking friends and family to invest in my business. I just didn't feel like something I wanted to do. And but in the end, I did raise all of that money through, through my own network, through our own, primarily my network. artwork. And, um, uh, so, um, I just decided that I wasn't going to ask anybody for money, and I didn't. But I told everybody I was fundraising. So like, literally, like, I, I swung up at an event in my, my child's school. There was a meeting about a, um, a trip abroad, and I swung up, and, um, the person who was sitting beside me, who I know, uh, got chatting. Uh, how are you doing? Great, great. Yeah, we're raising funds right now.

Oh, wow.

You know, and he ended up investing, you know. So, but like, you know, I kind of just spread the good word and, um, it was amazing how people came out of the woodwork. Um, you know, so, uh, it was just, and it was just, it just was, it was in flow and I don't know how or why. And I still ask myself what happened. Only I just, like I say, it was like flicking a switch. I said, right, you're so doing this. And it was just a change of tack and a kind of a short, sharp blast. And we did it, you know. And, you know, that was kind of what happened.

So I love that. And I think that's a really good learning for specifically for the women founders who are listening to this episode is to say, okay, you just— linking back to what you said earlier, every day is a fresh start. The past is the past. And it's like, okay, whatever it was before, I can flip the switch. I can change gear in, you know, whenever I want to. And I also like the nuance in what you said. I wasn't asking for money. I was telling them I was fundraising. It's a very different position. Um, and I really like that. So, you know, and I, I mean, obviously you're not afraid of the financial part. You are a financial whiz. So that part is easy, which can be very— it can be very daunting for women founders who are not the financial whizzes that you are. But in any case, as you say, it's like you made a decision. You said, I'm not going to take this from friends and family, and we're just doing it. And I loved it. I love, I love just that.

You know, I am financially literate. I guess that is my, my, my background. But, um, you, you, you— there are like Like, there were companies running these schemes, but, um, we weren't, you know, uh, big enough or advanced enough for them, you know. But, but I still think, um, if people are interested, there you can get advisors who are financially literate to do it for your behalf on your own. So it can be— you, you can still independently do it. Yeah.

And if you have to unwrap some of the key learnings that you learned throughout that funding journey so far, what would it be, your kind of the key dos and don'ts? Like, the dos are obvious from what you're saying, but is there anything else you wanted to add to the dos And what would be the don'ts that you would share with them?

Yeah, like, it's important, and I actually had an excellent kind of coaching session over the last year from some real experts who helped me. I'm going to throw out some things I've learned as well. I always felt it was a 2-way discussion, and I think, you know, sometimes maybe particularly younger entrepreneurs might feel that they're just a term taker, you know. And so thinking about the term sheet, so how much of the company are you prepared to give away? Know your boundaries beforehand. An expert gave me some excellent guidance. He said if you're at the very beginning of your journey, you probably need enough money for 18 months. Kind of work out how much that's going to be, and maybe you'll give away 20% of your company. If it's more than that, they're probably taking too much, and if it's less than that, you're probably getting quite a good deal. And it was just a lovely rule of thumb for people who literally haven't a clue and are just starting off. Very, very simple. But the terms aren't just how much equity somebody's going to take. They're also things like um, what, what control they have, you know, like are they on the board and what are their voting rights and all of that. Because, um, you know, and I, I'm terribly lucky that this hasn't happened to us at all, but I know other entrepreneurs where maybe people have come in and it's a little like a marriage, getting married to someone you haven't discussed you actually want kids or not. Like, it's where, where do you expect this to go beyond, you know, where it is today? And are you aligned? So that's what I mean about are you aligned in your objectives on the timelines, you know, Does somebody want you to grow really, really ridiculously fast for 3 years and then exit, or are they more patient? Are they happy to wait for 5 or 7? And also, is that what you want? Like, it's— nothing is good or bad, but is there a match?

Mm-hmm.

You know, and so kind of thinking through those things beforehand are really, really important. And for us, I wanted people who believed in our purpose. Like, our purpose is completely aligned with building a really profitable, scalable business. They're not competing with each other because our business model is designed that way.

way.

So, you know, I'm not concerned about that. Um, but there can be cases where, you know, they're not aligned. So, um, so for me, just about culturally, I wanted people to believe. I wanted people— like, for example, I want— what I loved was an investor, a prospective investor, who would come in and be very seasoned. And I love someone with an entrepreneurial spirit because they kind of get us. Um, and, you know, that they would be rigorously assessing me because a lot of this is down to the, the entrepreneur, the founder. And, um, uh, and then, you you know, knowing the small number of things to rigorously check but not break your heart. I was an investor who wanted me to reconcile the cash flows of the management accounts, and I'm going, seriously? Because, you know, that wasn't going to be the basis for the decision, you know. And I thought, we are not well matched, because that would be a— if they're like that on the way in, they're going to break your heart all the way through. Complete distraction. They'll be a distraction, you know. So it's thinking about what's it going to be like after they come in, and though. For me, because our team are fairly seasoned, we're not looking to have our hands held. We're looking for strategic brainstorming, guidance, advice, and maybe a few connections, but we're fairly self-sufficient. So some investors, that'll be a good match, you know. Others might want to get much, much more involved. So it's exploring all of those things beforehand and finding the right one. So, uh, we're, we're picky, but we, we haven't, um, we, you know, and I think it's a smart picky because, um, I used to work Um, my banking days, I spent 5 years working for— in, in the M&A arena, which is, you know, buying and selling companies. And what I noticed was the acquisitions that had worked well were where there was a really good cultural fit between the organizations, and then the ones that didn't were where there wasn't. So that kind of cultural fit for me was one of the real non-negotiables. So longer, slower journey, but much, uh, faster long-term growth to have the right partners on board, you know, and so far we've been blessed.

Your gravitas and experience oozes out of every word that you say, and I mean, if you were watching this, you'll see me going like this, nodding my head all the time at everything you're saying, Tracy, because it's so true. Like, and I love the way you say being smart picky. Yeah, you have to be picky and choose, like, really careful who you choose, but yeah, know where you are at in your stage as Yeah, can I say, Anne, we are actually fundraising ourselves again right now.

So, um, my— and I'm going to put it out there— we're, we're, we're raising about $2.5 million now, and we've, we've some quite interesting strategic investors that are possibly, um, 6 months away. But we'd like to kind of get going with the market opportunity now, you know, um, so as a stepping stone. So, um, our perfect investor has—

$2.5 million on a seed round, or what would you consider Where are you at in terms of funding?

We're probably somewhere just below Series A, pre-Series A, I'd probably call us, that kind of stage. And someone with a really good entrepreneurial spirit. We're mixing climate finance and a bit of light tech, if that's of interest. A cherry on the top is somebody who has a commercial property portfolio or has distribution into that space. And there's a two-way win there because we can transform that portfolio portfolio using our capital, which increases the value of the portfolio and the energy footprint. And but then that also gives us distribution, and that's kind of over and above the value of the company. So I think it's a very compelling proposition. But we're— I say we are, we are looking for that right fit. Uh, we have a few suitors, but I'll put it out there because, uh, I love it. You, you never know.

You never know. And this is like, we have a very international audience, so are you open to international investors, or does it have to be Irish or UK?

Well, we are open because our, like, our, our kind of our footprint is we're based in Ireland but with international reach. So our, um, our project implementation capability extends into Europe and UK, but we also have an eye on USA. I mean, we have, we have one or two, um, customers who in principle would like us to do something East Coast USA, and we have a funding partner lined up there and a delivery partner, and we haven't actually physically moved in yet, but we've kind of a strong eye there as well. So no, we're absolutely open to international, and our, our growth ambition is absolutely international. So it's more about the, the right, you know, that cultural fit. Uh, geography is much less important. Yeah.

Brilliant, I love it. So let's kind of fast forward then. Imagine you have that $2.5 million. What are your future plans, uh, for Vivid Edge? Where do you see the next 12 months and beyond going forward?

Yeah, we're very, we're very, um, very excited about the, uh, the next 12 months because our growth plan is very much around building strategic partnerships. And, um, you know, we are building a very meaningful business with relatively small number of customer relationships, but deep customer relationships. So, you know, multi-site customers, um, and, you know, and international customers. Um, so, you know, you typically start getting to know a customer by doing an individual project, and, you know, that could range from been a few hundred K to, in, in some cases now, our initial projects are up at the $2 million range. But then they want to roll out more projects to other locations. So, um, really it's getting more bodies in the pitch primarily, um, you know, sales, uh, technical, um, and, you know, support functions. Yeah. Um, and then also we're also in the process of digitizing our customer journeys. We've got, um, we're kind of digitizing a little bit what we're doing for enhanced customer experience. The customer experience is absolutely essential to us. And we have a new colleague, Sarah, who's terrific, who comes from a kind of a Silicon Valley digital background, which is really interesting.

Yeah.

So, you know, so we're building that capability out as well. But it's really growth. It's growth capital. Like I said, the market was very slow to take off, but we're really seeing it now. And I kind of described the triggers and the regulatory triggers are strong. Um, CSRD, I think, caught everyone in their tracks for about 12 months, and nearly everything slowed down while people were grappling with it. But now, now there's momentum because the reporting, uh, year-end starts, you know, December '24, and they're reporting now and monitoring and measuring. So I think, I think it's going to be quite a lively, uh, calendar year next year, 2025. So we've doubled our profits the last— sorry, doubled our revenues, I should say, the last a number of years, and, um, we're, we're set to at least double again going into '25. So like, we're in high growth.

Yeah, so that's, that's it to all of the investors, high net worths, or anybody who knows of somebody who you could— who you feel could be a good cultural fit because you've heard Tracy very clearly, you know, reach out. Which leads to my next question, which is, what's the best way for people to connect with you, to reach out to you, Tracy?

Well, we have a website. It's, uh, www.vividedge.ie. Vivid stands for energy and edge stands for innovation, by the way, just to help people remember the name. And so vividedge.ie, it's an Irish domain website, but we have international reach capability. I'm on LinkedIn as well if anyone wants to message me on LinkedIn. I, I keep an active eye on LinkedIn. I'll, I'll get back to you. Yeah, so that's, that's Yeah, perfect.

And what would be your last, your parting message to the listeners on this podcast episode today, Tracey?

Well, I'm going to be— can I be cheeky and ask for 2? Because what I would love to do is, first of all, it's a message for anybody who pays an energy bill, and I just want to say to you to address the energy waste first. There's an enormous opportunity, it can be relatively easily done, and then And then after you've done that, then address the residual energy in a greener way, like maybe using solar, for example. So that's really my advice to anyone that's in your home, you know, or in your business, or anyone who's paying an energy bill. And every little bit helps, as they say. And then so finally, Anne, what I'd love to do is just to end with a message for the entrepreneur out there who is going through a difficult time right now. And, and the message I want to give to, to you, if you're that entrepreneur, is, um, first of all, believe in your vision. And, you know, really, really keep a firm mind on your vision. What I will say is this: opportunity is all around us, I have found, but it's not always where we're looking. So be very, very open-minded on where it may come from. And then keep your energy on your vision. This is really, really important. important, not your current problem and not your bank balance. Keep it on your vision, because where you put your energy to is where, you know, where you're ultimately going to grow. And ultimately, don't give up, keep going, because what you're doing is important. I've no doubt.

I love it. My goodness, what amazing messages to share at the end of this podcast episode. Thank you so much. And my, my message so is to say thank you, Tracy. Thank you very much for being you, for being such a role model in the energy space and really in the innovating in the energy space. Thank you for, for your words of wisdom to the other women founders. Thank you for the opportunity you're giving to investors to potentially come aboard and work with you. And to all of you who are listening to this episode, I bet you know someone who needs to hear the messages, the really powerful messages that Tracy's been sharing. So make sure you share with the people you believe are going to benefit.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being with us today, Tracy. Wonderful to have you. And let's keep this as an open invitation to in a couple of months, you know, next year, whatever, we'll— let's touch base and see, okay, what's happened next? Because I know you're going to explode in the possible— in the best possible way. So thank you so much for being with us today.

Thank you so much, Anne. It was really, really fun talking to you.