STRATIS is donating smart tech to Puerto Rico’s rebuilding effort

STRATIS CEO Felicite Moorman had been trying to land a slot to pitch her company at the National Multifamily Housing Council’s OpTech Conference for the past three years.

2017 was the last shot, Moorman said: next year her East Falls internet-of-things company would age out of the competition’s requirements. But the wait paid off: Moorman’s camp beat out 50 other startups and landed the competition’s top prize of $5,000.

“It was intense,” Moorman told Technical.ly from Las Vegas. “There were 50 or so companies applying, most based on real estate tech. They picked ten and selected the winner through live voting.”

STRATIS CEO, @FeliciteMoorman with the winning #OPTECH17 award. #IoT #SmartCities pic.twitter.com/ncv0mYbqga

— STRATIS (@STRATISIoT) October 27, 2017

Though details are still being worked out, the big check will allow the company to ship some of its technology to Puerto Rico, in the hopes of assisting rebuild efforts in the island and integrating with Tesla’s Powerpack solution for buildings.

Elon Musk’s company — following a quick Twitter exchange with Gov. Ricardo Rosello — deployed the company to power up San Juan’s Hospital del Niño, which had been without power since Hurricane Maria hit the island in September.

“Since the hurricane hit we’ve been looking at how to have a positive impact on Puerto Rico,” Moorman said. “Putting dollars wouldn’t be the same as putting together technology. We can tie [Tesla’s tech] into our system so they’ll be more efficient.”

Hospital del Niño is first of many solar+storage projects going live. Grateful to support the recovery of Puerto Rico with @ricardorossello pic.twitter.com/JfAu11UBYg

— Tesla (@Tesla) October 24, 2017

Now, does Puerto Rico — still grappling with mass power outages — need a donation of smart technology? Some call the onslaught of in-kind donations a “second disaster” due the logistical challenge they pose. But Moorman said now is exactly the right time to put something like STRATIS’s platform in place, so sites that are being rebuilt can start being efficient from day one.

“It can be dramatically more impactful to the people there, because in an island energy is not subsidized like in the mainland U.S.,” Moorman said. “We waste a lot of energy and we can’t afford to.”