Energy Intelligence – StartupSmart

Energy Intelligence provides a range of energy management services to large energy users. Services include the procurement of electricity and gas contracts, network tariff optimisation, emissions reporting and bill validation.

 

It also provides specialist consulting services within the embedded network sector, helping landlords of multi-tenanted buildings on-sell electricity to their tenants.

 

“My wife and I lost our life savings in the collapse of Opes Prime in early 2008… Our only assets after the collapse were a few thousand dollars in the bank,” Regenspurger says.

 

“With no mortgage and no money, I decided to leave paid employment and step into an abyss to start my own business.

 

“I had nothing to lose, having already lost everything, and worked on the basis that all I had to do was bring in enough money each month to feed my family and pay the rent.”

 

Regenspurger had previously worked for a small start-up providing billing services for embedded networks, so he saw a need to offer independent consultancy services in this area.

 

“I also saw that many of our corporate clients had no idea about managing their energy accounts and needed professional advice,” he says.

 

“The most challenging part of starting the business was attracting new clients… I had to overcome my fears of cold calling prospective clients to promote my services.

 

“The biggest thing I learnt from battling my fears was that if you show passion with the service you are offering then people will see that and give you an opportunity.

 

“There is so much confusion with the energy market and so I made a point of educating prospective clients about the market rather than just trying to sell them my services.”

 

Chris Coulton, chairman of DFK Australia, chose Regenspurger for the Start-up Hero award, which recognises achievement in the face of adversity.

 

Coulton says Regenspurger’s experience of losing everything in the Opes Prime disaster in 2008 brought a “tear to my eye.”

 

“Along the way he has had a son born with a physical handicap who needs ongoing surgery and then less than 12 months ago his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer,” says Coulton.

 

“I feel that this particular fellow sums up what Australians are all about; he gets thrown a lot of obstacles which you have to overcome and the bottom line is you have to keep on keeping on.”

 

“He has been knocked down but has got up again. He’s has a motto of passion, determination and persistence to achieve his goals and I think that he is an inspiration to all of us.”