This is arguably the most exciting Open Innovation Program for the Energy industry in the world. Free Electrons, now in its third edition, has conquered the reputation of contributing to significant advancements in the Energy industry and boosting the growth of the startups that participate in this global program.
Make no mistake, Free Electrons has been designed for greatness from the start. Three years ago, eight energy utilities from all over the globe (AusNet Services, DEWA, EDP, ESB, innogy, Origin Energy, SP Group and Tokyo Electric Power Company) joined forces in a consortium built to push the boundaries of the energy sector, in order to find better and more sustainable solutions. Last year, American Electric Power and CLP have joined the gang, and are now part of the mighty 10 brave utilities.
The track record is unparalleled, both by the innovation injected in the utilities and by the growth achieved by the startups that become part of the big Free Electrons family.
So it comes with no surprise that the third edition, that wrapped up its third module last week, is already set to break some very high Free Electrons standards.
During this last module, startups and utilities had the chance to present the first pilots, after the match that took place in Module 1, with an impressive 27 pilots announced. Startups solutions are now being applied to utilities business challenges.
While on the second module of the program, Utilities and Startups also, based on the progress made on the first pilots, kicked off the development of new pilots and moved towards potential commercial agreements and/or investment contracts. Seven new pilots were announced by the end of Module 2, making the total of ongoing pilots of Free Electrons a mind blowing 41.
Free Electrons Utilities and Startups will now continue to work on their remarkable solutions that will be presented in an open day in Lisbon, on September 19 at Academia das Ciências. Hope you can join us there!
Bluetech Accelerator – Ports and Shipping 4.0 just wrapped-up its Bootcamp phase. Bluetech is an ambitious and innovative program looking to create a new batch of ocean startups and attracted startups from all over the world.
The Bootcamp
The Bootcamp, that occurred from 24th to 28th, is an intensive work week where startups and met for the first time with the partners.
The week started with a speech from Ana Paula Vitorino, the portuguese Ministry of the Sea, who inspired the entrepreneurs with the government’s vision of developing a new blue economy, that both uses ocean resources and protects its biodiversity and sustainability.
After the first introductions, the startups received guidance from Beta-i’s team on how to build pilots in collaboration with the partners and spent their time meeting one-on-one with the partners.
This is an essential moment, where startups can dive into the partner’s business and discuss to find common goals and operations.
The Pilots Moving Forward
Of the 21 startups that joined the pilot, 15 have been chosen to move on to the pilot phase. They will be developing 23 pilots in partnership with the Bluetech Pioneers.
APDL, who administers the ports in the north of Portugal will be leading in the number of pilots – having 7 pilots being developed with several startups, followed by APS (ports in the south), with 5 pilots. These numbers clearly reflect the vertical being developed in this first edition – Ports and Shipping.
Smart Open Lisboa (SOL), an open-innovation program 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, had the Demo Day for its Housing vertical, today at Museu da Água.
The 14 startups selected for this phase in the program worked on 25 pilots in partnership with the big corporations involved in the program, that ranged from real estate companies to construction companies and to utilities.
An on-going process
After an intense Bootcamp, where startups and partners met for the first time and worked on collaborative pilots, the Demo Day showcased the work that partners and startups have been developing for the last two months and the first results of these collaborative pilots.
The different rhythms of these two types of companies and the matching of technology and processes make the experimentation become a journey – these are just the first results and plans, from which the teams can learn to keep perfecting the projects in the months to come.
Solutions for real estate
The projects presented by the startups varied in range and style within the real estate and housing sectors: from testing the predictive maintenance of water leaks to the logistics and management processes associated with the food-court of commercial spaces. But they all added new layers into the partners’ businesses, for example:
Heptasense is working on identifying behaviors via surveillance cameras already installed in commercial spaces. Using Heptasense’s solution, it is possible to identify behaviors (without comprising the anonymity) of the users of the space. In this way, it’s possible for commercial spaces to identify theft in real time, and also qualify the spaces they offer and give them fair value.
Howz is working with social assistance from the Municipality to use their sensors in the homes of the assisted elderly population. The sensors examine behavior through electricity use, analyze patterns and notify the system in case of abnormalities. The system will allow for faster assistance in case of need, and the reduction of unnecessary emergency calls.
OneGrid, Meazon and Enerbrain are experimenting with partners in ways to measure consumption and identify over-consumption to take action and reduce costs in building management.
What all the projects have in common is that they all contribute to reducing inefficiency, making decisions based on accurate data and shift these companies to a more proactive way of managing.
The Demo Day for the third edition of Smart Open Lisboa (SOL), an open-innovation program 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, is fast approaching – join us next Thursday, June 27th, at Museu d Água to see the solutions presented.
What to Expect
For this second vertical of Smart Open Lisboa, focused on the residential and commercial real estate sector, a total of 19 startups were present at the Bootcamp, with several going forward for the pilot phase – there are a total of 27 pilots being developed.
A preview of the pilots
As the startups’ technologies can get applied to a multitude of businesses, they have joined the partners to test these solutions in the partners’ businesses, proving its effectiveness in bettering the lives oh thousand of people in Lisbon.
Here are a few examples of the technologies applied in the pilots, whose results will be presented by the startups and partners:
Alfredo AI
Alfredo’s machine learning algorithms will help a bank evaluate residential properties (without sharing any data with Alfredo) generating new credit leads and mitigating risk through an intelligent internal portfolio analysis. In this edition of SOL Housing, they tested it against the traditional way banks evaluate apartments and houses.
Nudge Portugal
Nudge Portugal developed a pilot to intervene in a commercial space’s food court to: increase the return of food trays, the screening of garbage for recycling in the food court as well as to avoid perpendicular queuing and corresponding blocking of corridors.
Meazon
Meazon worked with the partners on the installation of energy submeters in a building to monitor the elevators and allow a faster service and predictive maintenance through analytics and alerts based on the customer needs using the power consumption or production data.
Howz
This startup developed a system to measure electricity use and other data in the homes of older people, identifying events that describe the activity and building routine patterns. Then, they look for anomalies and send status alerts to families.
MycroftMind
This startup developed software of predictive maintenance of water leakages or bursts in a determined neighborhood, by a collection of data with sensor networks and machine learning algorithms.
Starting next Monday, June 21st, 21 startups will be joining us at Beta-i for the Bluetech Bootcamp. The Bootcamp is an amazing opportunity to spend a week liaising with the program partners – getting to know them and their business, find common values, explore possibilities and co-create a mutually beneficial pilot.
Understand the bootcamp
The bootcamp is an essential part of any open-innovation program. In this stage, startups and partners meet in person for the first time, and will dedicate their time to know each other’s business and work together. It’s essential to go through the agenda and be ready for the different parts of the schedule in order to not miss opportunities!
Research the partners
If you applied to the program, you probably have a particular interest in working with one (or more) of the partners. It’s important to research the partners, and know as much as possible about their business, so you can take your one-on-one time to the next level, by asking all the right questions.
Be ready to learn on the workshops
On Bluetech Accelerator’s bootcamp, you’ll have the chance to attend workshops with Beta-i’s open-innovation specialists and learn how to build your pilot case. This is an essential skill in order to advance to the next stage of the program. It’s also an opportunity to share your concerns and doubts with skilled and experienced facilitators and ask for advice – they have done this before!
Take advantage of one-on-one meetings
The one-on-one meetings with the partners are extremely valuable for startups. Here, you can deepen your knowledge about the partners’ business, get a better sense of how you can help their business, and also to figure out any technical ou specific questions about the application of your solution. Also, be ready to present your business from different perspectives, tailored to each partners’ business.
Co-create the pilots
Now that you’ve learned how to build a pilot and that you know the partners well, it’s time to build your pilot proposal. Understand that the value is in the collaboration: take advantage of all moments with partners and other startups to share information and build the pilots together – making them more likely to be fulfilling or everybody’s goals and expectations.
Network
Not everything is work, but almost! Downtime, like coffee breaks and cocktails are a perfect time to wind down, and get to know everyone personally. Connect with other successful startups and
leaders that are disrupting the Ports and Shipping industry – and keep yourself open to opportunities.
Make arrangements beforehand
Now that you’ve looked at the schedule and prepared for the bootcamp’s activities, make all your arrangements beforehand! The bootcamp has an action-packed schedule that will require your focus in order to make the best of it. So, it’s better to make all logistical arrangements – travelling, accommodation, an even have business engagements – beforehand.
Enjoy Lisbon
Take advantage of our beautiful city, its beach, culture and food – you won’t regret it! Take a look at the handy city guide our team always sends to bootcamp participants!
