Actor and director Corbin Bernsen is plugging a new project in Akron: a website to help consumers nail down the best prices.
Bernsen’s Powsumer is collaborating with the University of Akron Research Foundation to launch a company that would offer volume purchasing to consumers who form “packs” to leverage buying power.
“This will be real stuff that people want,” he said. “It’s like saying, ‘I’m going to get X number of people together and we’ll pay this much. Take it or leave it.’ ”
Bernsen filmed his 25 Hill about the All-American Soap Box Derby largely in Akron and is seeking investors to film a second family-friendly flick called 3 Day Test in Akron next spring.
He fell in love with Akron and decided he would try to help it recover economically. So when he and his wife, actress Amanda Pays, came up with the idea of tweaking the popular Groupon.com concept, they decided to base it in Akron.
Instead of businesses determining what would be offered for discounts, consumers would decide what they want to buy at what price.
“You’re not fooled by a sales price or a gimmick, and we’ve helped you with some of that,” Bernsen said. “That’s our secret sauce. We’ll tell you you’ve got a 57 percent chance of buying something at this price and maybe a bigger chance if you’re willing to pay this much more.”
Bernsen’s idea got a jump-start when he met Andy Maas, a project manager at UA’s not-for-profit Research Foundation, this year.
The foundation introduced Bernsen to the UA-sponsored ARCHAngel Network, 500 private investors and community leaders who could contribute some of the $200,000 to get the company off the ground.
The foundation also steered Bernsen to its for-profit arm, University Innovation Ventures, which it owns in part with two private investors, said Maas. who is vice president of Powsumer.
University Innovation Ventures paid for Powsumer’s original patent application and consulting fees while providing staff.
Over the next couple of months, UIV will test the Powsumer approach with UA students.
2012 unveiling
If all goes well, Powsumer would be unveiled in the first quarter of 2012. The company would make its money by charging a transaction fee of 6 to 10 percent to suppliers that provide products.
Maas envisions that within a year, the company would employ 25 to 50 in a headquarters in Akron.
“We hope to prove that you do not need to be in Silicon Valley to launch and establish a meaningful Web-based startup company,” he said.
The goal for the company is much larger, though: to become so attractive that an outside investor snaps it up. That is when UIV and, in turn, the Research Foundation and any private investors, could benefit.
“This is part of a greater plan to help re-invent Akron,” Bernsen said. “I think there’s plenty of potential for a tech industry here.”
But all companies don’t succeed, and that could happen here. While Powsumer is “a good idea, an engaging idea,” it might not fly, Bernsen said.
The foundation and University Innovation Ventures have started about 25 companies over the past five years, Maas said. Some have died, some have been bought out and some “are still in the hopper.”
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-96-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.