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.
Heptasense, a portuguese startup, was selected to join Data Pitch, an ambitious European project to accelerate startups from the continent, and challenged to solve a series of challenges by working with data. Beta-i, in partnership with the European Commission, ensures coordination of this acceleration program.
Heptasense, whose solution is already being used in Mercedes factories, is an artificial intelligence software that can recognize and predict accidents on the streets to alert operational teams in real-time.
One of the biggest causes of traffic, and consequently high carbon emissions, are accidents. This problem is worse on highways, because it is hard to detect on time, and very difficult to manage afterwards. Heptasense is a software platform that leverages data from surveillance cameras to detect accidents and alert the operational teams in real-time. Although this solves part of the problem, the goal is also to mitigate such risks. That’s why the platform is also merging data from weather, GPS and historical accidents data to predict when and where accidents may occur so that operational teams can be ready to act.
Heptasense is one of 29 new Data Pitch startups that were this week introduced at a celebratory reception held at the Google Campus in London. This new cohort brings the total number of Data Pitch companies to 47, each receiving up to €100K equity free funding, expert mentoring, investment opportunities, and access to data from established businesses and the public sector.
The project is coordinated by Beta-i, in partnership with the University of Southampton, the Open Data Institute and french data platform Dawex. The initiative, which kicked off officially today, will be financed by the research and innovation program Horizon 2020, the European Union, and each startup will be in the program for six months.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to build a platform for collaboration between startups and companies covering all of Europe. Startups will have the opportunity to access huge data blocks from some of the largest European companies in order to try to resolve previously identified challenges, using the development of new products and services. This European accelerator brings together a wide and diverse batch of industries, working in an engaging and collaborative way, and we see this opportunity as a chance to use our experience, as we expand our know-how and methodologies. “
Ricardo Marvão, co-founder and Head of Education of the Beta-i
The ambition is to create an entire ecosystem of innovation for Europe, a space where big companies can work closely with agile startups so they can innovate and learn from each other, using the data as a basis to solve the problems.
Lisbon Challenge by Beta-i, our flagship accelerator program, will be kicking off its 11th edition – the Spring Edition of 2019 – next Monday, April 8th.
Having a startup is probably the toughest business there is. Lisbon Challenge was built to help founders grow 1 year in just 3 months. The program’s methodologies are focused not only on growing the business but also in preparing founders to transform difficulties into learnings and to see problems as opportunities.
The founders joining the program will be challenged in their assumptions and challenged to gain a better understanding of the problem they’re solving, their clients and the solution they’re building, to bring them closer to a product market fit.
It’s going to be an intense 3 months! So, without further ado, we present you the 8 startups joining the Spring Edition of Lisbon Challenge by Beta-i (click the names to learn about each startup):
ARANMI
Africa’s foremost SME friendly on-demand supply chain marketplace.
Country: Nigeria Founders: Michael Iyanro and Gideon Olanrewaju Website: http://www.aranmi.com
git//scale
Breakthrough platform for open source projects serving enterprise clients.
Country: Portugal Founders: Diogo Lemos Pereira e Nuno Barrocas Website: http://www.gitscale.io
Hirefreehands Inc.
Freelancer hiring marketplace for entrepreneurs, startups & SMEs.
Country: Nigeria Founders: Sunkanmi Ola, Abel Agoi, Jime Akpusugh and Gabriel Esu Website: http://www.hirefreehands.tech
OutboundSales.io
SaaS B2B Sales Platform for Enterprise Sales Teams.
