Subject area:                      Corporate Level Strategy, International Business Strategy, Sustainability and Development

Region:                                   United States

Industry:                                Energy

Company:                              eCurv, Inc.

Decision Maker:                Edison Almeida, CEO and founder of eCurv

Dilemma: Nearing the end of 2016, Edison Almeida, CEO and founder of eCurv based out of Cambridge, MA, was frustrated with the slowing growth of his technology company. eCurv is an energy demand management company that describes itself as a “phone company for energy”.  Edison grew up in Brazil where he worked in the telecommunications business for years. It was there he came up with the idea to use the “queue” system, or “waiting line” system for adding and dropping phone calls, but for energy loads within a company to reduce peak energy costs and increase efficiency. After seeking advice from consultants he was faced with a few possible pathways to get their growth back on track. Edison could enter the Australian market of energy demand management, the Brazilian market in his home country, or continue to build on eCurv’s growth in the United States market. Currently, eCurv is the market leader in the United States but establishing an international foothold on the market could lead to even faster exponential growth. All of these options would require the majority of the business’ focus and resources to accomplish. The competition in the energy demand management market is growing rapidly and a market leader will only stay a leader through rapid expansion. eCurv is still below break even and therefore still reliant on venture funding. Falling short of growth predictions can hurt investor relations quickly and therefore hurt the businesses ability to raise capital.  

The dilemma that eCurv now faces is whether to focus their growth domestically in the U.S., or export their services to international markets, either Australia or Brazil. The key stakeholders, including eCurv’s investors, suggest that expanding internationally could be a move in the right direction. 

Time for a Decision 

eCurv has been successful in providing an unprecedented business value in the demand management industry. The small firm’s service oriented business model combined with qPAC has enabled its customers to reduce their energy costs by high margins. Although eCurv is currently a market leader in the industry, CEO Edison Almeida is concerned with company growth. In the next five years, Almeida hopes to have 50 to 75 million dollars in revenue as well as move from the innovators and early adopters point towards the market adoption curve. In effort to combat this dilemma, eCurv’s team has laid out the alternatives: the first option is to continue expanding domestically, the second option is to move into Australia, and the third option is to move into Brazil. Expanding out of the U.S. could allow the company gain an international foothold. Edison must make a decision within the next 6 to 12 months because the competition is growing rapidly in this embryonic industry. Also, eCurv’s current expenditure exceeds revenues, therefore slowdowns in growth can lower their valuation and make it difficult for the company to raise venture capital funds in the future.