By Riley Kaminer
Ed Wise, the founder and CEO of PositivEnergy might not seem like your typical cleantech entrepreneur. He was the Chief Revenue Officer of Mashable, which was sold to Ziff Davis, and was also an executive at Pinterest (IPO), Funny or Die (partially acquired by Turner and then AMC), Sportsline (acquired by CBS), and E-Tour (acquired by Ask.com). With this background in media technology and a passion for building successful businesses, Wise is the kind of guy who could be equally as comfortable at the helm of, say, an adtech startup or a marketing firm.
His transition to the clean energy sector was sparked by a serendipitous encounter at a birthday party. “I invested in a battery technology company and, almost overnight, found myself as the chief revenue officer,” Wise recounts. Despite his initial unfamiliarity with batteries, his expertise in sales leadership and monetization paved the way for his successful pivot.
This move aligned with Wise’s growing concern about climate change, particularly as Tesla started to gain traction. Wise saw an opportunity to make a significant impact by addressing the critical issues of energy storage and grid reliability – nothing less than the fundamental question of disrupting the way we power our world.
“Energy storage is crucial, but the grid needs fixing in a big way,” Wise told Refresh Miami. This realization led him to establish PositivEnergy five years ago, with a mission to democratize clean energy on a commercial scale.
PositivEnergy isn’t just another electric vehicle charging company. Rather, Wise and team identified a gap in the market: a need for comprehensive EV charging solutions that go beyond the charger itself. PositivEnergy tackles this challenge by offering a combined package of level three DC fast chargers and energy storage solutions.
These chargers can power a car to 80% charged in 10 to 15 minutes and a truck in under an hour. The company prides itself on high uptime rates, a critical factor for fleet and city customers. “Our chargers have an uptime of 99.2%, far surpassing the industry average,” Wise notes.
PositivEnergy operates as an integrator, combining preferred hardware and software to meet customer needs. This approach allows them to stay flexible and adapt to new technologies swiftly. “We are always looking at what’s next and integrating those solutions,” explained Wise.
While PositivEnergy is a national company, South Florida holds a special place in their story. Wise, who moved to South Florida from New York four years ago, emphasized Florida’s proactive stance on clean energy initiatives and the state’s high ranking in EV usage. He credits the influx of talent and investment in the Sunshine State’s energy sector as a major advantage for his company.
“I wouldn’t want to be building PositivEnergy anywhere else,” he asserted, adding that being located in South Florida has provided unparalleled networking opportunities.
PositivEnergy isn’t resting on its laurels. Wise shared that the company is developing what he believes will be a game-changing supercharger technology that could reduce infrastructure costs by 40% while charging vehicles faster than ever before. The company is also looking to expand into charging-as-a-service and leverage its proprietary data analytics platform to optimize charger placement for maximum impact.
Wise emphasized the company’s commitment to social responsibility. Their upcoming project in Haiti, a solar-storage solution for Hospital Albert Schweitzer, exemplifies this dedication to making a positive impact.
Wise remains committed to fighting climate change and believes in the collective responsibility to address this global issue. “Climate change is real, and we all have to do our part,” he asserted.
Photo at the top of this post shows PositivEnergy’s upcoming 200kW mobile charger.
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