GREAT 85 IDEA: Launch a Green Product

On a rainy morning in 2005, Reza Tourzia was jogging around his Los Angeles neighborhood when he noticed how many automatic sprinklers were watering lawns despite the downpour. He realized many homeowners relied on automatic timers, but timers couldn't tell whether it was sunny or sprinkling. That's when his great idea hit.

An experienced software developer, Tourzia decided to develop a smart device that could go online to check the local weather. Then, it would turn the sprinklers on and off depending on the need rather than the time or day of the week. Cyber-Rain hit the market in 2008.

“Launching a small business in 2008 was not the best time in the world, but we are alive,” said Diana Schulz, chief executive officer of Cyber-Rain, which is based in Encino, California. “Our success is a testament to the technology and the fact that there is a growing awareness of the water crisis and increasing water rates.”

Schulz said that 39 states will be facing drought by 2013, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That's another reason she believes homeowners and landowners will be willing to pay $399 for a system that controls eight sprinklers.

“The system will pay for itself within a year or two,” said Schulz, adding that it is easy to install with a screwdriver and a few other easily available tools. “Our product is such a no-brainer, I have to ask, why doesn't everybody with a lawn have one?”

The small company is venture backed, but Schulz declined to share any financial information. “Fund-raising has been a big part of my life for the past two years,” said Schulz, who spends much of her time promoting the product to potential customers, mainly commercial landscapers and property managers.

Consumers can buy the Cyber-Rain system online at www.cyber-rain.com. Landscape contractors and owners of commercial buildings can purchase bigger systems through Ewing Irrigation, a Phoenix-based firm.