Clever Solar Devices, Atom H2, Ahyres and Zenit respond to one of the three challenges posed: renewable energy generation, energy distribution and commercialization of energy and telecommunications services
Today we have launched the first edition of Eria’s acceleration program, in which four startups from the energy sector will participate: Clever Solar Devices, Atom H2, Ahyres and Zenit, all of them Spanish. The objective of the program is to promote innovation in the generation of renewable energy and the distribution and commercialization of energy and telecommunications services.
For 6 months, the companies will receive business and sector-specific support through professionals from the Estabanell group and the AticcoLab mentor network, an entrepreneurship support platform that develops acceleration programs for startups thanks to an extensive network of mentors.
In addition, at the end of the programme, the startups will have a direct grant of €10,000 in non-refundable funds and, if deemed appropriate by Estabanell, access to the infrastructure of the different companies in the group to carry out proofs of concept in order to validate their solutions in a real environment. The program also distinguishes itself by being equity-free.
Innovation in the energy and telco sectors
The startups that will participate in the acceleration program respond to one of the three challenges we pose: renewable energy generation, energy distribution, and commercialization of energy and telecommunications services.
In the renewable energy generation challenge, the startups that applied had to offer an answer to this question: How to maximize the efficiency and energy generation of Estabanell’s renewable assets with the aim of improving profitability and sustainability through new technologies?
The startups we have selected for this challenge are:
- Clever Solar Devices: A company that provides a platform for solar photovoltaic plants that increases production and reduces operation and maintenance costs without interrupting power generation. Clever Solar Devices has obtained €670,000 in financing through convertible notes (€450,000), the NEOTEC Programme of the Centre for Technological Development and Innovation CDTI (€196,000) and Climate KIC (€24,000). The company has conducted six proofs of concept and is closing the first recurring customer outside of the PoCs.
- Atom H2: a company that presents a modular on-site hydrogen generation and storage system aimed at the B2B market. The company has a very young team. Recently, Atom H2 won the ImaginPlanet Challenge, which allowed them to incubate their project in Silicon Valley and raise an investment round of €75,000.
In the case of the energy distribution challenge, companies had to answer the following question: How to implement predictive and prescriptive maintenance services that simplify the processes of distribution network assets in order to prevent breakdowns, avoid interruptions and reduce costs?
In this challenge, the startup we have selected is:
- Ahyres: a company whose proposal is based on the autonomous inspection of the electricity grid thanks to UAS (unmanned aircraft system), i.e. drones. Ahyres has obtained funding of €430,000 mainly through grants from the NEOTEC Programme (€325,000), Enisa (€68,000) and two incubation awards for an amount of €90,000. The startup has already landed its first client, a company in the energy sector.
Regarding the challenge of marketing energy and telecommunications services,the question to be answered was the following: How to personalize the marketing and management of energy services and assets, based on real and individualized data on a customer-by-customer basis to offer a simple service with differential value that allows us to respond to the main concerns and needs of the different agents in the sector generator-distributor-marketer-customer?
For this challenge, the selected startup is:
- Zenit: a company that has developed an end-to-end platform for the complete management of energy communities. Zenit’s goal is to become the leading platform for energy communities in Spain. The company has already secured funding of €500,000.
More than 50 startups from all over Europe
To carry out the screening of the acceleration program, we carried out a scouting with which we identified 304 European startups that fit into one of the challenges posed. In the end, we attracted a total of 55 startups, which represents an 18% conversion rate.
These 55 startups come from 18 European countries, mostly Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Portugal. The country with the most startups presented is Spain, with a total of 26.
Of these 55 companies, we shortlisted 14, from which the challenge directors chose the final four startups.
Highly specialized equity-free program
Eria’s acceleration program kicked off today with a two-day bootcamp in which startups will participate in training sessions, led by Aticco and specialized in financing, marketing and sales, among others.
In these two days, startups will learn how to create the perfect deck, how to develop a financial plan and how to identify the metrics and KPIs that they must take into account, among others. All this by professionals such as Quino Fernández, CEO of Aticcolab, or Adrián Gallardo, Director of Operations and Programs of Aticco Lab.
Startups are in different stages of maturation, so each one will build its board of mentors according to its needs.
The director of Eria, Josep Solé, assures that “we are excited to launch this acceleration program to accompany these companies in their growth and scale. It is essential that corporations, companies, innovation hubs, startups and innovation agents make a clear commitment to technology and innovation: in this way we will promote significant advances in strategic sectors such as energy and telecommunications”.
Eria has a budget of €600,000 for 2024 to, among other things, boost its startup acceleration program, develop a Venture Client program and promote internal entrepreneurship. In a second phase, Eria will also analyze the feasibility of promoting Venture Building and Corporate Venture Capital programs.
