The quaint Chatham County town of Pittsboro could be the home of the next startup success built in North Carolina. And its founder – born nearby, a UNC-CH grad – is hoping 3DFS will create plenty of jobs built upon its success in what’s called software-defined electricity.

As WRAL TechWire reported Monday in the first of a two-party story, 3DFS is already generating business and international attention (Popular Mechanics to Forbes) with patented technology that is defining a new means of improving energy efficiency thorugh the use of artificial intelligence.

Here’s the 3DFS definition of SDE: “Software-Defined Electricity is a transformative technology that delivers perfect energy transfer in electrical environments increasing the efficiency and stability of electrical networks and improving the performance and work output of all the loads.”

Founder/CEO Chris Doerfler. talks about his roots, his team, and whether 3DFS will look for investors as the company continues to generate traction.

“We manufacture all of our technology in Pittsboro and our vision is to continue to do this for the foreseeable future,” he explains.

“We wish to grow our headquarters in Chatham County with the goal of eventually being a top employer for the state of North Carolina.”

Our Q&A:

  • What led you to this idea? What’s your background?

The engineering group behind 3DFS has a range of expertise and a history of developing disruptive technology. This idea was developed after extensive research and development in ultra-efficient solar cells revealed the energy transfer problem that exists from not precisely measuring electricity.

I am an original North Carolinian, born in Burlington, graduated from UNC and spent a decade traveling to different parts of the country starting companies and working in the financial industry.

When I started my family, I returned to NC where I got involved with this engineering group. Since then, we have worked together to deliver many different projects and technologies to clients all over the world.

  • Do you have patented intellectucal property? Patents pending?

The patent for this technology is already granted. We have many more patents in the pipeline.

  • How are you funded? Are you seeking funding?

We are self-funded and currently sustain our business selling our technology supplemented by consulting, contract manufacturing and production, hardware and software development and revenue from other business interests.

We are currently seeking to build partnerships through licensing, distribution and sales agreements.

At this point in our growth, we are not actively seeking any equity investments.

  • Are you hiring? If so in what areas?

Right now we have fewer than 10 employees in Pittsboro, although we are projecting some considerable growth over the next four quarters.

We will be looking to fill positions in electronics manufacturing and operations including ordering and supply chain management first to secure our production and delivery scalability, then we will need to fill positions that will build the customer services that we will offer our clients, and from there we will expand our sales and marketing.