ENTERPRISE
This angel investor supports innovation For Diane Simard, life is about connections and collaboration By Katie Coakley
THE DETAILS Bye Aerospace 7395 S. Peoria St., Ste 206 (Box C3) Englewood, CO 80112 303-459-2862 Byeaerospace.com Named one of the 2017 “Colorado Companies to Watch” For more information on COPE visit du.edu/gspp/services/cope/give.html
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Photo: Michael Furman
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THE NEXT TIME THAT YOU LOOK into the sky and see the distinctive outline of an airplane, something may be missing: the noise. Electric airplanes, once considered by the aviation industry a concept to mock rather than consider, have come a long way. Bye Aerospace, located in Englewood, is on the forefront of creating and designing aerospace products with a solar-electric configuration. They’re the first to develop an electric airplane for the flight training market—and that’s only the beginning. Diane Simard, senior vice president and board member at Bye Aerospace, has seen the changes in the industry. She started investing in Bye Aerospace nine years ago and joined the corporate board in 2009. At the time, the company was more focused on biofuel, but Simard has always been on the “painful, bleeding edge” of innovation, as she explained it. “It’s painful, but it can be advantageous to be the first to ever do something,” Simard said. “We
Diane Simard speaks during the 2017 COPE Cancer Survivorship Roundtable
certainly are in first place. No one else is viewing market opportunities like we are.” It was Simard’s interest in renewable energy, as it applied to new industries, which led her to Bye Aerospace. However, she’s always been interested in innovation: she’s a business strategy accelerator and angel investor in six emerging technology companies ranging from medical devices to cybersecurity in addition to her work with Bye Aerospace. Her experience includes service on several corporate boards, including an electronics recycling company, an
COLORADO EXPRESSION OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2017
unmanned aerial systems company in Albuquerque (as a founding shareholder), a community bank and an IT consulting company. She’s also a business mentor to young entrepreneurs and business professionals. Simard enjoys being on the cutting edge and Bye Aerospace is certainly taking off. It was named one of the 2017 Colorado Companies to watch and is currently involved in five projects, ranging from readyto-purchase to preliminary R&D. The broader world has also taken an interest in Simard and her work. She was named the 2016 Outstanding
