Meet the startup turning energy conservation into a mindful mobile gaming app
The founder of OwnWatt, Yingchen 'YC' Zhang believes awareness is the first step to making better decisions about energy consumption.
Your phone tracks your steps. It tracks your sleep. It tracks how much time you spend on Facebook. Yingchen “YC” Zhang thinks it should track your energy use, too, but in a fun way. As an energy scientist, Zhang partnered with his longtime friend Dr. Bo Li, a behavioral scientist, to bring to market a gamified energy-tracking system for mobile devices, helping people stay in tune with their usage and utility companies stay informed about how individuals actually consume energy.
Zhang and Li launched a software called “OwnWatt” to help people take better ownership of their energy consumption. It’s one thing to see your energy use reflected on a bill at the end of the month, and another experience to make optimal decisions in real-time, ahead of time.
Zhang spent his entire career in the energy industry, nearly a decade at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), about a year with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and years researching and teaching at Virginia Tech, the University of Denver, and the University of Colorado, Boulder. Along the way, he noticed that the power industry had become deeply reliant on data, but utilities and energy companies rarely talked to the actual people using the electricity. The “end user,” the person who could most directly reduce consumption, was oftentimes left out of the conversation.
“People may struggle to decide: what is the best decision they can make for the environment? It can actually be difficult to make these optimal decisions throughout the day, and that’s how OwnWatt can be there for them,” Zhang said. “We build this gamified software to help people enjoy the process while they also make the best decisions for using electricity and saving the planet.”
The pair played around with the idea for years before officially incorporating the company in 2025. The goal was never just to build a consumer app. Zhang believes the real opportunity is in bridging the gap between how utilities think about energy and how individuals actually live with it.
“I think by making it a game that people can play, it will bring their consumption data to the top of their mind,” he said.
That shift in awareness, Zhang argues, is what changes behavior. The app is designed to help people understand not just how much energy they’re using day to day, but why. “It will become more of a conscious decision,” he said. And once that happens, utilities will benefit too.
“We want to be the leader that helps them help users understand the complexity behind energy use in a fun way,” Zhang said. “It would give utilities a much better way to engage with their community closely every day.”
Coming to Chattanooga
DecisionAI is based in Golden, Colorado, but for the next six weeks, Zhang and his team are in Chattanooga for the CO.LAB Energy Innovation Accelerator. They are one of four invited companies, alongside CubeNexus, Rassket (story here), and Voltair Labs.
This year marks a shift for the accelerator. Rather than accepting open applications, CO.LAB CEO Tasia Malakasis and Program Director Bryan Barringer moved to an invite-only model, actively recruiting innovative energy startups to spend just over a month in Chattanooga, building their businesses, connecting with local partners, and exploring Southeast Tennessee.
For Zhang, the invitation was an easy yes. Tennessee isn’t new territory: during his time at NREL and the DOE, he worked alongside researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). Chattanooga, he said, feels familiar and exciting.
“So far, I am enjoying the nature and enjoying the energy,” he said. “My hope for the program is to establish business collaborations in this region, especially with the innovative utilities in the area.”
Connect with YC Zhang on LinkedIn.
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