PIONIX
PIONIX initiated EVerest, a user-friendly charging software solution which is developed, distributed, and maintained by a growing open source community.
The Problem
The EV charging software ecosystem is experiencing significant growth due to the global shift towards electric mobility.
However, the current EV charging ecosystem faces challenges in providing a seamless, standardized, holistic and user-friendly experience for EV owners. Multiple providers offer individual, patchwork solutions that lack interoperability. In order for the EV market to continue to grow and meet customer expectations, these challenges must be addressed.
The Solution
PIONIX solves these challenges with its open-source platform, EVerest, which provides a standardized and shared framework to facilitate a more cohesive charging experience. EVerest is a multifaceted software suite designed to operate charging stations and enable compatibility. By utilizing the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), EVerest can seamlessly connect to existing Charging Point Operator (CPO) backends without being tied to specific hardware.
The Linux Foundation has recognized the company's innovative approach, positioning PIONIX as a key player in the evolving EV charging market.
Why we invested
PIONIX’s open source software EVerest has the potential to be a game-changer in the industry by addressing the exact road-blocks that currently exist. This breakthrough technology has the potential to reshape the landscape of the EV charging market.
An investment in PIONIX will allow us to tap into and profit from the growing EV charging market by providing a critical component of the charging infrastructure. The company’s commitment to open-source principles gives it a unique advantage in the industry. By providing an open platform for collaboration and innovation, PIONIX fosters a community-driven approach that will drive continuous improvement, and in turn, demand and adoption.
Lichtwart
Lighting Management & Maintenance Platform
The Problem
Outdoor lighting still works the same way it did decades ago. The only significant change has been the switch to LEDs. However, lighting systems haven't become intelligent and don't respond to environmental changes, resulting in continued high energy consumption and costs.
Additionally, the remote locations of many lighting installations make service and maintenance both costly and logistically challenging for their respective operators.
The Solution
The Lichwart team has developed a cloud-based light management platform that, together with a small hardware component, enables operators to simply make existing light installation smart and controllable.
The platform lets them remotely monitor and control their systems, adjust light intensity based on ambient brightness, and automatically notify service technicians when maintenance is needed. This improves their CO2 footprint and the reliability of the lights, without high initial investment or additional staff requirements.
Why we invested
The company's unfair advantage lies in its deep knowledge and extensive network within the commercial lighting industry. They recognized the opportunity for a simple cloud-based IoT solution in their home market and seized it. Prior to founding Lichtwart, Gregor and Johannes worked together in an SME in the lighting and outdoor advertising industry. Third co-founder, Jackson, previously worked at IoT company Relayr, which was successfully acquired by Munich Re for €300m.
With an exceptionally strong and experienced team, the company has ambitious plans to scale across Europe and the US, aiming to become the new industry standard for smart commercial lighting systems, reducing both CO2 and light emissions.
Green Fusion
AI-enabled heating management software for complex and hybrid heating systems in residential buildings, increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions.
The Problem
Heating in residential real estate is a major contributor to CO2 emissions, still mainly relying on fossil energy sources. With climate targets and energy costs rising significantly, society must find ways to use energy for heating more efficiently and replace or combine existing fossil heating systems with renewable solutions. Property owners, in particular, are facing massive challenges to make buildings more energy efficient, fueled by the introduction of a CO2 tax and ESG requirements.
The Solution
Green Fusion has developed AI-driven software that automatically makes conventional heating systems such as gas boilers more efficient. Most of these systems still operate in factory default mode and have never been touched to be manually optimized.
The Green Fusion cloud software also optimizes hybrid systems, i.e. systems that use several heat sources in parallel (e.g. gas boiler together with heat pump and/or solar thermal). Such hybrid systems will become increasingly common in buildings that are being renovated or newly built.
Why we invested
Green Fusion's technological advantage lies in its ability to optimize coupled heating and energy systems while being hardware-agnostic. In order to meet ESG targets, there is a strong demand from property owners to implement energy efficiency measures and/or switch to renewable systems to reduce emissions as well as costs. In Germany alone, there is a huge market of 3.2 million multi-family homes waiting to be addressed by the company. Green Fusion is led by an outstanding team with deep domain expertise that has attracted high-profile investors and clients.
flexecharge
Smart charging solutions for charging station manufacturers and backend providers
The Problem
The growing use of electric vehicles (EVs) and impending restrictions on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are driving the rapid expansion of commercial EV charging networks around the world, aiming to match the convenience and accessibility of traditional petrol stations.
However, a major challenge to this expansion is the limited capacity of existing power grids, which are being strained by the growth of distributed renewable energy generation and the escalating demand for electricity from the growing EV population.
Sophisticated load and energy management software is urgently needed to mitigate and overcome the risk of grid upgrade backlogs that could leave EV charging stations stranded without power, and to ensure that society efficiently uses the increasing amount of renewable energy being fed into the European grid.
The Solution
FLEXeCHARGE solves this challenge by providing a load and energy management solution through an interoperable platform that integrates with a variety of EV charging hardware and charging point management systems. The platform's vendor-neutral technology allows both AC and DC chargers to be integrated into a single load management system that can be managed locally or via a cloud-based solution. By consolidating the operations of multiple charging sites on the FLEXeCHARGE platform, users can reduce the costs associated with charging by utilising local renewable energy sources, storage systems and participating in flexibility markets.
In addition to cost savings, the open architecture of the FLEXeCHARGE platform allows customers to remain independent of specific management systems and hardware suppliers, offering the ability to interface with a wide range of software or hardware. This flexibility can contribute to improved energy procurement strategies and will increase operational efficiency.
Why we invested
FLEXeCHARGE capitalises on the expanding global EV market, which is expected to exceed 200 million EVs and 300 million charging points managed by over 100,000 charge point operators (CPOs). These operators are challenged to economically power a vast network of chargers with minimal grid fees and limited capital expenditure. The FLEXeCHARGE solution effectively addresses this critical need.
encentive
Flexibility-as-a-Service for Utilities and Grid Operators
The Problem
The transition to renewable energy is creating a decentralised, dynamic and highly volatile energy system. Large energy consumers, such as SMEs and industrial players, are increasingly facing the challenges of these developments. They are also faced with increased regulation and rising CO2 prices. The war in Ukraine and subsequent energy price spikes have added further uncertainty. Managing the cost and volatility of energy has become even more important and there is increasing pressure to implement intelligent systems to use and source energy more efficiently.
The Solution
Encentive has developed a new generation of AI-powered energy management systems. Its flex-On platform enables SMEs and industrial customers to optimise the entire demand side. The flex-On platform is a digital solution that takes into account internal and external data from a company's existing asset infrastructure. On this basis, the system provides predictions and automatically executes optimisations and reacts in real time.
The core value proposition is to efficiently manage energy price volatility and reap the benefits of flexibility by combining local on-site optimisation (including own energy production from e.g. solar PV) with the exploitation of market opportunities through demand response. The flex-On platform is particularly targeted at industrial processes where cooling and heating are essential, such as logistics, food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.
Why we invested
The market for energy and emissions management and optimisation for SMEs and industrial customers is huge and demand is growing rapidly. Reducing energy costs and optimising energy consumption has become a necessity for energy intensive SMEs.
Encentive has developed a technologically advanced solution that has been tested and refined with its first customers over the past few years. The company has been able to attract high profile customers and has demonstrated that it delivers massive value. The solution not only delivers significant cost savings, but also has an environmental impact by reducing emissions. The three founders have invested many years in research before developing Flex-On, giving them a technical competitive advantage.
We believe that competing solutions on the market are much less mature.
eco2grow
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) marketplace for SMEs
The Problem
High and increasing volatility and escalating prices in the energy market present significant challenges to all participants, especially those whose operations are heavily dependent on energy. These conditions often disrupt long-term strategic planning and undermine competitiveness. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to these challenges.
Historically, SMEs have relied on traditional methods of procuring electricity and are often disadvantaged by their lack of access to subsidised electricity tariffs or tailored direct B2B power purchase agreements (PPAs). This limitation is due to their insufficient size, the complex contractual terms associated with PPAs and their often perceived lack of creditworthiness. As a result, these companies face an uphill battle to remain competitive and financially viable in a turbulent energy market.
The Solution
ECO2GROW mission is to enable SMEs to purchase energy directly from solar and wind farms. Their solution not only reduces energy costs for SMEs, but also provides reliable long-term planning, ensures an authentic, fully traceable supply of green energy, and removes legal and transactional barriers. With its model, ECO2GROW will revolutionise the way SMEs procure green energy and open up Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to SMEs for the first time.
ECO2GROW will accomplish this mission through a revolutionary fintech B2B SaaS platform. Using an innovative credit risk portfolio approach, the platform aims to democratise access to PPAs by welcoming smaller market players. It is also designed to fully integrate with existing energy contracts, ensuring a seamless transition and ongoing operations for companies.
Why we invested
The renewable energy market is experiencing robust growth and requires market instruments that A) amplify this growth, B) optimise capital efficiency, and C) broaden participation and acceptance. ECO2GROW aims to meet these three key objectives. ECO2GROW innovatively aggregates SMEs into power purchase portfolios, enabling them to directly access electricity from solar and wind farms. In doing so, ECO2GROW delivers significant cost benefits while ensuring long-term planning predictability in terms of volume, price and carbon footprint reduction. This extends the reach of the benefits of renewable energy.
These aspects are critical to a successful energy transition, making renewable energy more accessible, affordable and attractive to a wider market segment - one of the core principles of Vireo's investment thesis.
atmen
Software solution for the hydrogen economy to trace carbon content and certify the decarbonization of supply chains.
The Problem
The green hydrogen market is arguably the next energy revolution, similar to the renewable energy revolution 20 years ago.
The single biggest enabler and bottleneck in building the green hydrogen industry (and later other low carbon products) is the verification of hydrogen or other products as green, i.e. ensuring that the CO2 content is below a defined threshold for the entire value chain from the energy used to produce the hydrogen, the carriers used to transport the hydrogen, and any further processing or blending at the point of use.
There is currently no solution for this.
The Solution
atmen's IoT and SaaS platform solves this problem by enabling energy-intensive goods manufacturers to easily digitise, automate and streamline the certification process.
This helps industrial players to earn money from green premiums, save costs and resources through process efficiency, and gain trust and reputation from these certificates.
The company's IoT and software solution not only provides full transparency and quantification of carbon emissions along the value chain, but also provides government-approved certification across different schemes and countries.
Furthermore, once established in the green hydrogen economy, it will be rolled out to other industries with potential low carbon products.
Why we invested
The green hydrogen economy is the next big thing. It needs certification to get started.
However, certification is more of a "licence to operate" than a "strategic product differentiator" in itself, so the appetite for outsourcing is high.
And in a second step, the technology can be transferred to adjacent markets: low carbon fuels, low carbon gases, low carbon chemicals, low carbon goods, green CO2, energy intensive goods (steel, cement, fertilisers, aluminium & other EU ETS impacted goods).
And we believe atmen, its team and its solution will do just that.
Amperecloud
The operating system for renewable energy.
The Problem
According to the IEA, renewable energy technologies like solar and wind are the key to reducing emissions in the electricity sector, which is the single largest source of CO2 emissions today. In order to reach net-zero, almost 90% of global electricity generation in 2050 will need to come from renewable sources, with solar PV and wind together accounting for nearly 70%.
The Solution
With Amperecloud, owners and operators of renewable energy plants can manage their entire portfolios on a single platform, increasing efficiency. As the only comprehensive, all-in-one solution, ampere.cloud allows its customers to enable scaling while minimizing costs and reducing losses.
The Amperecloud platform connects the full value chain from local communication and remote control for operators via IoT, to automated monitoring, to connecting the facilities to energy traders.
Why we invested
While currently focussed on solar, ampere.cloud is agnostic towards other production forms. In a very fragmented industry that faces skilled-labor shortage, ampere.cloud’s platform enables renewable energy companies to grow faster as they put their plant operations on autopilot. By establishing a connection between the plants and local grid operators as well as offering remote control to the energy markets, ampere.cloud helps stabilizing the local grids and matching supply and demand of fluctuating energy generation. This is essential to prevent blackouts in a future world that relies largely on renewable energy.
About:Energy
Better Batteries through Data
The Problem
Battery development is expensive, time consuming and carbon intensive due to the reliance on physical testing and prototyping. Building expertise and gaining insights using only in-house capabilities is a significant bottleneck for many companies developing battery technology. Battery models reduce the time and cost of these development activities to help businesses lower risk and achieve sustainability goals.
Different types of models allow virtual testing to be used throughout the supply chain – from materials development to second-life applications. Although advanced battery models provide a path to faster innovation in many areas, very few companies are realising the full value of models, and most do not use them at all. Deploying models is challenging due to infrastructure requirements, technology barriers or access to talent.
The Solution
About:Energy is building the dataset for better decision making across the battery value chain, from mine to end-of-life, helping companies reduce the cost and time to bring innovations to market through a deep-tech software platform. About:Energy mitigates common issues by centralising lab facilities and expertise across multiple domains to provide customers with a complete battery modelling solution.
The company’s deep technology expertise originates from the leading battery research programmes at Imperial College London and the University of Birmingham. About:Energy continues to leverage university research to commercialise world-leading technologies, providing them to entire industries.
Why we invested
The global battery market is poised for exponential growth in the coming years. By 2030, it is estimated to reach a market value of £950 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% from 2021. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s Gigafactory assessment predicts that an additional 343 gigafactories will be constructed by 2031, resulting in a sevenfold increase in capacity to 7,500GWh.
Between 2023 and 2030, approximately £5.32 trillion worth of battery assets are expected to be deployed. About:Energy forecasts that research and development (R&D) spending along the battery value chain will amount to £127 billion in 2030 alone.By leveraging their models, About:Energy aims to drive innovation, cost savings, and sustainability in the rapidly growing battery market.