Free Electrons, the first global energy startup accelerator program, that connects the world’s most promising energy startups with leading utility companies had its first Module last week, from 21st – 24th of May, in Columbus, Ohio, the home of one of the utilities that backs the program (American Electric Power).
After a Bootcamp where the partners and startups got to know each other – utilities getting to know in detail the potential of having these innovative disruptive solutions applied to their businesses and Startups collecting valuable feedback about their products, features and roadmaps – Module 1 was all about creating the first pilots.
The right number of pilots
After one-on-one meetings and sharing of pilot tools by the Beta-i team, the startups and utilities collaborated on co-designing their pilot project, kicking off the project on the very next day.
The fit between the startups and utilities was so great that they ended up doing more than one pilot per startup, racking a total of 27 pilots among them.
The pilots tackle different issues from green-energy certification to asset management powered by AI to optimization of renewables forecasting, and address both final consumers, SMEs and other entities involved (insurance, for example).
The Next Stop
The next stop in the Free Electrons program will be Hong Kong, from 25th to 28th of June. With some collaborating experience under their belt, the teams will deep dive into the details of each others’ solutions.
The progress and findings of the pilots kicked-off in the first modules will be presented – as sharing knowledge and findings as always been key in Free Electrons program.
Startups and utilities will now have the chance to tailor their projects a little better to the utilities’ needs and kick-off more pilots.
We also expect to see a better definition of the scope of potential pilot projects, and a strong connection with the local ecosystem as the module offers an immersion in the world’s leading cleantech innovation ecosystem, connecting startups to the epicenter of the technology world.
