António Carvalho started his work in innovation when he joined Portugal Ventures – he is now leading Bluetech, the first Blue Economy accelerator backed by the Portuguese Ministry of the Sea.
With a background on Corporate Finance & Management, António first came in contact with innovation projects when he joined Portugal Ventures in 2012. Joining this ambitious project that aimed to launch a Startups ecosystem in Portugal that barely existed at that time, is still something he is proud of.
When he joined Beta-i, back in 2017, he took on the challenge of launching The Journey, an open-innovation program tackling the challenges of tourism, as he believed that innovating is the only way the main Tourism and Travel players can be consistently on the lead of the industry.
I’m one of those who believes Portugal can do way more to take advantage of its vast maritime border, so when the opportunity to launch a program in this field arrived, I just couldn’t say no.
When he was challenged to direct Bluetech program, he took the challenge head-on, as he believes there’s so much Portugal can do with its coast. Bluetech accelerator is an initiative of the Portuguese Ministry of the Sea and Fundação Luso-Americana para o Desenvolvimento (FLAD). They aligned the Portuguese Ocean Industry strategy with the interests of the six corporate partners. Which resulted in the definition of the challenges affecting Ports & Shipping 4.0 – which is the program’s first vertical. These challenges go from for Ports activity, Shipping operations and the Digital areas that connect both.
“After the needs assessment meetings with the corporate partners, four main challenges were defined: Process Optimization in Port Hinterland, which includes the concept of extended gateways, data analytics for complete vessel situational awareness and security profiling illicit activity at sea, etc; Cargo and Fleet Performance Management, which includes use of data to upgrade efficiency, use of digital twins, and product innovation; Future Shipping connectivity, which includes enabling ports to be connected and linked and creating new marketplaces; and Environmental Sustainability, challenging to reduce the environmental footprint of ports and vessels.”
Keeping these challenges in mind, the maritime industry is poised for change, and “Bluetech Accelerator can really change the industry by leveraging ocean science and R&D services for generating innovation and entrepreneurship. We can use ports as acceleration platforms for developing ocean advanced industries, integrated into global value chains, thus transforming the value matrix of Portugal’s ocean economy – and ultimately have an impact on the Portuguese economy.”
António believes that an open innovation program like this it the right way to kickstart this change, as it brings added value to all the intervenients: “The corporate partners are able to tap into the global source of innovation in their specific sector and test new disruptive solutions in collaboration with startups and other program partners. We’re actually seeing a budding capacity between the corporate partners themselves, using the program’s key moments to discuss the major innovation trends of the industry. As for startups, they get access to a group of experienced industry players, typically hard to reach, and the potential to test a solution with them and eventually get a partner that can give them easy access to the market and jumpstart their growth.”
It’s a huge opportunity for business – Ocean amounts for 97% of Portugal’s territory but only 3,1% of the gross value added
Startups, “who are looking forward to validating their product, experiment their product or solution with a big player of the industry and make it resonate with clients, it’s a huge opportunity – not only the program that allows them to strike a deal with a big client, that may get them access to a larger market, but the industry itself, as Venture Capital funds are investing heavily in Ports, Shipping and Logistics Digital startups – shipping and logistics startups focused on digital technology have risen $3.3 billion from January 2012 to September 2017.”
Portugal’s strategic guidelines will play into this investment boom, with a focus on strengthening traditional ocean economic activities (fishing, aquaculture and maritime transport), empowering emerging economic activities (like deep sea mining, biotechnology and ocean energy) and maximising Atlantic geostrategic centrality of the Portuguese Maritime space, in particular its deep and ultra-deep environments.
“It’s a huge opportunity for business – Ocean amounts for 97% of Portugal’s territory but only 3,1% of the gross value added”, concludes António.
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Beta-i partnered up with Galp to help bring customer-centricity into the culture of Galp. This resulted in the project “Think Like Your Customers”, a training program focusing on human-centricity through design thinking.
According to an article on Harvard Business Review, the greatest barrier to customer centricity is the lack of a customer-centric organizational culture. Since most companies are product-centric, or customer-centricity is a concern only in marketing or customer care functions, to implement a customer-centric approach to business is necessary to have a culture that aligns with it — and leaders who deliberately cultivate the necessary mindset and values in their employees.
What is Customer Centricity?
A customer-centric approach adds value to a company by enabling it to create a unique user experience and differentiate itself from competitors who do not offer the same experience.
A customer-centric approach to business entails:
Thinking like a customer
Dealing with needs, not wants
Providing solutions, not just products/services
Focusing on Customer Lifetime Value
Being proactive instead of reactive
Getting out of the Building
In order to shift into this strategic centricity, it was important for Galp to lean in one its strategic pillars: to enable employees for a cultural shift and give them the tools and skills to problem solve.
To be client-centric you have to be employee-centric.
João Filipe Torneiro, Head of Marketing & Business Development at Galp
For João Torneiro, Head of Marketing and Business Development at Galp, it’s clear that to innovate in the energy sector it’s essential to transform the internal culture: “A company like Galp, a leader in the sector, cannot afford to not move into customer centricity, and in doing so, cannot afford to not take risks. Which is what our team is doing.”
To achieve this, Beta-i devised a training program for Galp’s collaborators focusing on human-centricity, using design thinking methodologies.
The program had 60 participants across different departments, from retail to marketing and tech.
The first phase of the training consisted of workshops in design thinking and the customer journey, customer interviews and prototyping.
Then, the employees put their new learnings to the test – by actually going into multiple Galp gas stations and convenience stores and interacting with real customers in order to identify their pain points and their unmet needs.
For the second phase of the training, they worked in groups to focus on a particular problem and, through ideation, find and prototype a customer-centric solution for the gas stations’ customer experience – actually becoming innovators the way startups do, with coaching from the Beta-i team.
The final show
The final results and proposal were showcased to the Galp collaborators on a small private event. The excitement in the room was palpable, as participants showcased and explained their innovation journey to other colleagues. These projects ranged in scope – from payment solutions and digital solutions to the reinvention of the space and purpose of gas stations.
Susana Quitério, from Business Intelligence, shared her experience in the project, noticing how the methodologies and first-hand experience can add and complement standard market research, and even how the research became even more relevant in the support of innovation.
Even for employees working directly with operations of the gas stations, the new methodologies allowed them to “take-off the operations manager hat” and find new approaches to the business and rethink what they can offer to consumers.
It was challenging to walk the customer’s journey and try to understand each phase and its pain points. It definitely made us more creative in regard to problem-solving.
As highlighted by João Torneiro, and also Joana Teixeira, Beta-i’s project manager, the experience achieved its important goal: changing the mindset towards customer-centricity and acquiring the skills to problem solve.
“This is a great outcome thanks to the joint effort of our team and Beta-i, who brought the added value of the knowledge in methodologies and innovation experience.”
One of the characteristics that make Free Electrons a huge opportunity for startups is that it is truly global: the startups joining the program will get a chance to work with 10 global utilities, with experience and big markets under their belt.
Let’s get to know two of the utilities that are part of the Free Electrons utility alliance.
American Electric Power – AEP
American Electric Power is based in Columbus, Ohio, and is focused on building a smarter energy infrastructure and delivering new technologies and custom energy solutions to its customers.
We spoke with Ram Sastry, the Vice President of Innovation and Technology at AEP, who highlighted the pilots developed in 2018: with Kisensum, whose software Energy Management storage platform allows owners of electric cars, building loads and solar panels to optimize and integrate all these resources and optimize them; Howz, whose app allows customers to monitor the activity of elderly loved ones and receive alerts in case of abnormal behavior; and a third one where they partnered up with a startup and three other utilities in the program to develop a pilot, coordinating common goals.
We learned a lot negotiating with each other and coming up with common goals and a common framework.
According to Sastry, the program is rich in learning, giving equal importance to the learnings utilities get from working from startups, but also the learning they get from working with each other.
To AEP is clear that energy utilities are not stuck in the past: the future will not be equal to the present and past, so Free Electrons’ utilities are ready to welcome startups and create the solutions and products consumers’ are waiting for.
Watch the whole interview:
AusNet
A major player in the Australian energy industry, AusNet is Victoria’s largest energy delivery service business owning and operating approximately $11 billion of electricity and gas distribution assets that connect into more than 1.3 million homes and businesses.
We spoke with Chad Hymas, Executive General Manager of AusNet, who highlighted the pilots they developed in the last edition, like data analytics and energy sharing in order to create a new transactional future for energy.
AusNet is also pleased with the collaboration between utilities, as sharing information helps them move forward even with startups they didn’t started pilots with, and also come up with real global solutions that can shape the future.
The collaboration between utilities has helped us go back to Aperio [startup from Free Electrons ‘17], cause we know other members of Free Electrons are also using their solution, and that gives us the confidence to treat them a more mature vendor.
According to Hymas, to becoming winners (of the program but also of new clients), startups must make very clear from the beginning what is the added value they bring, the problem they are solving, and genuine about their business and what their mission is.
Watch the full interview below:
The first module of Free Electrons ‘19 will happen on the 21st – 24th of May in Columbus, Ohio, home of AEP. The objective of this first module will be to match solutions with concrete challenges and define a collaborative roadmap for the first pilot among startups and Utilities.
Lisbon Challenge by Beta-i, our flagship accelerator program, kicked off today in our Beta-i building, for its 11th edition.
Get to know one another
The day started with really getting to know each other. After a healthy breakfast to break the ice, Ricardo Marvão, Co-founder and Head of Education at Beta-i, spoke to the teams about the history of Beta-i, and the scope of the team’s work.
Eduardo, Head of Acceleration at Beta-i, and the Lisbon Challenge’s team walked them through the schedule and highlights of the program:
Workshops on methodologies with the Beta-i team;
Contact with alumni from the program and people who have been through the entrepreneurial journey;
Mentorship from a vast network of entrepreneurs, investors and corporate partners.
Alumni Talks
This year, Lisbon Challenge’s teams got an inspirational talk from alumni of the program – Miguel Santo Amaro, co-founder of Uniplaces and André Miranda, founder of Musiversal.
Mainly they spoke of how, at the time, they applied the methodologies learned in the program and were able to grow their business through that:
Because we validated with clients a lot of things we were doing right and wrong, we were able to grow our operations. We didn’t do any sales pitching or advertising – just by listening to people we adjusted the service, it cost us zero, and we were able to grow our sales because satisfied customers came back with bigger projects.
Miguel Santo Amaro also shared a lot of his experience as a founder of Uniplaces – from his struggles with being a first-mover in the market to their pitch to investors to Uniplaces’ pivots.
Like André said, “This is not fluff advice, I really think if you keep this advice in mind, you’re gonna take much more from the program.”
First Pitch
The startups will pitch their solutions for the first time for the Beta-i team and the ecosystem of alumni and mentors. It’s an exciting moment for all – for the startups it’s the first impression they are making on the ecosystem, for the team is a chance to learn something new. It’s also a good memory to have – so the teams will know how much they grew in the program.
Read about the startups joining the spring edition here.
The bootcamp is the beating heart of Smart Open Lisboa – this is where startups and partners meet and start looking into the future together.Discover our Housing bootcamp ⤵️#SmartOpenLX #SOLHousing
The third edition of Smart Open Lisboa (SOL), an open-innovation programme connecting some of the most relevant players in the residential and commercial real estate sector with startups to implement innovative solutions in the city of Lisbon, finished the Bootcamp phase and chose the startups implementing pilots in Lisbon.
Where it all starts: the Bootcamp
The SOL Housing Bootcamp happened between 18th and 22nd of March and featured 19 startups selected from a batch of 95 applicants. During this time, the 19 startups had the opportunity to present themselves and to meet the partners, workshop sessions with the Beta-i team, and one-on-one meetings with the partners to really match and aligned their solutions with the partners’ needs.
The one-week Bootcamp is the central piece to the work startups and partners will do in the piloting phase, as Miguel Tânger, Co-founder and Head of Open-Innovation at Beta-i, explained:
The Bootcamp is a critical piece of the whole process because it is where startups and public and private entities meet for the first time, they try to look at the future together and find a way to pilot a solution for the future.
These startups are joining the partners and developing almost 40 pilots in the housing sector to be tested and implemented in the city of Lisbon.
It was an amazing successful Bootcamp, and the partners are interested in keeping conversations going with the startups that were not selected, to monitor their growth and eventually partner up in the future.
SOL Housing has the goal of making city management smarter and upgrade city life for Lisbon’s citizens through practical solutions. It will all culminate on the Demo Day, on the 27th of June, where the solutions found will be presented.
Free Electrons, the first global energy startup accelerator program, that connects the world’s most promising energy startups with leading utility companies, just selected the 15 teams that will now join the piloting phase program, after the Bootcamp.
The Bootcamp
The Bootcamp week is a critical part of the success of the program, and this year was held in Dublin and hosted by ESB. During this stage, utilities got to know in detail the potential of having these innovative disruptive solutions applied to their businesses. For Startups, it represents an enormous opportunity, not only to speak directly with 10 global companies but also to collect valuable feedback about their products, features and roadmaps.
Just by attending the Bootcamp startups are able to test their business cases potential on a global platform, enriched by the different expertise from the 10 utilities in their home markets. In just 3 days, startups need to quickly adjust to all the utility requirements, work together with them in creating room for a pilot to be held, and then present a viable pilot case.
The top 30 Bootcamp startups also had the chance to talk with CEOs from Free Electrons ’17 & ’18 winning startups – Sebastian Groh from ME SOLshare and Rui Beon form BeOn Energy – whose testimonials are key examples of the impact the program can have in helping startups scale fast, get funding or close new deals, alongside other alumni, Jungle.ai and Sterblue, who also shared their experience on the program.
The Bootcamp has also allowed for the opportunity to showcase Irish startup ecosystem, with several local companies invited to join the event.
The 15 finalist startups
The overall quality level of the 30 startups that qualified to the Bootcamp was amazing – all of them helped the utilities learn, and had really talented founders, that are already having an impact in the future of the energy sector.
But the 15 startups joining the piloting phase of Free Electrons ‘19 are Akselos SA, Ambi Labs Limited, CARTO, DEXMA, Energyworx, Enging – Make Solutions, envelio, ev.energy, GridBeyond, Heila Technologies Inc., Hygge Power, Save To Compete, Sensewaves, Solandeo and WePower.
These 15 startups will join the utilities on the 1st module, that will take place in Columbus, Ohio (EUA), from May 21st to 24th.
