With this second year of the global pandemic slowly tapering off, we are proud to present our Honourees for the first cohort of ENECHANGE Insight Ventures (EIV) 2021. In this edition, we named three Honourees: ev.energy (UK), Leap (US), and Persefoni (US). They were featured during our EIV Summit, held online and in-person in Tokyo between 13-14 October.
For this edition’s cohort, over 600 companies were initially screened, and a longlist of 142 companies was made. The EIV team then invited 21 companies to participate as selected entrants. The criteria for selection were informed by the Green Growth Strategy, Japan’s plan to reach net-zero as originally set out by the Suga administration in 2020. The 21 ventures were given the chance to present their solutions and plans to our Subscribers via our monthly webinars, with three ventures presenting per webinar. After all seven webinars were completed, our Subscribers were asked to vote on the ventures that were most aligned with their interests and would be good candidates to help tackle decarbonisation in the Japanese energy sector.
The three chosen Honourees represent a range of tech solutions that can make a real difference to decarbonising the energy sector in Japan: from electric vehicle charging software (ev.energy) to a load management platform for demand response (DR) aggregators (Leap), and a carbon accounting and management platform (Persefoni).
ev.energy
ev.energy is a software platform that optimises the time of charging based on cost, emissions and grid requirements. The platform is used by multiple energy companies and tens of thousands of drivers across Europe, Asia, the US, and Australia.
Nick Woolley, CEO of ev.energy, noted that the programme has helped them to accelerate their plans to roll out smart charging in the country:
‘Over the next 10 years, the Japanese electric vehicle market is going to undergo rapid growth. Through ENECHANGE Insight Ventures, we’ve developed key relationships within the energy sector, who share our vision to decarbonise transport and the determination to roll out ev.energy’s smart charging services to drivers across Japan.’
Leap
A platform for VPPs and DR aggregators, Leap provides a marketplace enabling cloud-connected flexible loads to participate in wholesale energy markets and earn revenue by helping to balance the grid.
CEO and co-founder Thomas Folker highlighted the access the programme had afforded them:
‘Leap is excited to participate in ENECHANGE Insight Ventures. It gives us even greater insight into the energy market in Japan, and access to leading energy companies. Leap enables distributed energy resources (DERs) to participate in grid services markets and we look forward to helping Japan achieve its grid decarbonisation goals.’
Persefoni
Persefoni provides carbon accounting and management solutions that help organisations and financial institutions measure their carbon footprint across their operations and portfolios.
Co-founder and CEO Kentaro Kawamori remarked on the promise of decarbonisation efforts in Japan and Persefoni’s role in this:
‘Japan is a leader in the fight to combat the effects of climate change, and it’s because of the tireless work of organisations like ENECHANGE that the country – and globe – is getting closer to the goal of net-zero emissions. The Persefoni team is thrilled to be named as honouree of EIV 2021 and to present at the EIV Summit, and we’re excited to work together to focus on decarbonising enterprises, governments, and organisations around the world.’
Congratulations to all our Honourees, as well as all our cohort members!
We would also like to extend a special thanks to all our Subscribers for their continued support during this edition.
We are now scouting for our second cohort of ENECHANGE Insight Ventures 2021. If you are a venture in the energy tech space and are confident that your solution would be a great fit for the Japanese market, apply now through our form or learn more here.