London-based Granular Energy has secured €7.5 million in seed funding, in a round led by impact venture capital firm Norrsken VC (that recently backed Material Evolution), with support from All Iron Ventures, Box Group, Valo Ventures, and participation from existing investors Seedcamp, Revent and Powerhouse Ventures.
Coinciding with this milestone, TFN has got interesting information from the company revealing details about their team.
Access to affordable, clean energy for all
On a global scale, consumers spent $24 billion on green electricity in 2022 and it is projected to grow this year as the demand for clean energy. This coincides with the increased concerns over climate change and the desire from organisations and individuals to reduce their carbon emissions. However, they are rarely informed where this energy comes from.
Energy companies are allowed to market tariffs as ‘green’ if they have sourced enough energy certificates to cover the energy consumed by their customers on that tariff within a 12-month period. Furthermore, energy companies are not required to disclose from where they have bought certificates or how they have been assigned among their customers. AS per a recent survey, only under 5% of leading utilities fully worldwide disclosed the sources of renewable energy behind their green offers last year.
This is where Granular Energy comes to the picture. It is a software provider that specialises in clean energy management solutions for utilities, energy managers, traders, and large energy buyers worldwide. It seeks to address a lack of transparency in this market that is holding back funds from being directed toward technologies that deliver clean energy at the times and locations it is most needed.
Granular Energy is creating solutions to track where energy comes from hour by hour, creating an important price signal for energy storage and flexibility, alongside more clean energy generation. It aims to create a world where every organisation has access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy.
Improve transparency in green energy procurement
Granular Energy plans to use the fresh funds to improve transparency in green energy procurement and to help direct consumer spending towards delivering clean energy where and when it is most needed.
Toby Ferenczi, Co-Founder of Granular Energy said, “One of the most effective things anyone can do to reduce their carbon footprint is to purchase energy from carbon-free sources. We’re helping energy companies create more transparent offers for their customers to make switching to clean energy more accessible and more impactful. Consumers deserve to know whether their electricity comes a source that is either destroying our planet or is part of our future.”
Thomas Parsons, Director of Sales and Origination at leading UK green energy provider Good Energy said, “Good Energy has for a long time been vocal about the problems with the existing energy certificate system. Moving to ‘hourly-matched’ clean energy is the only way for consumers to really ensure they are eliminating fossil-fuels from their energy supply. We are delighted to be working with Granular Energy to make this possible for our customers.”
Agate Freimane, General Partner at Norrsken VC said, “We’re excited to support the Granular team on their journey to revolutionise the power grid. Granular Energy’s software empowers utility companies to offer honest insights to customers about their energy sources, at a time when there’s increasing demand for transparency. We believe in the team’s vision to drive substantial change and make greener energy not only more readily accessible and understood, but the norm.”
24/7 clean energy management
Granular Energy was founded in by Toby Ferenczi (co-founder of non-profit EnergyTag), Bruno Menu, and Samuel Cheptou in 2021. Through their deep experience in software and utilities, they realised two challenges – energy certificates do not send the right price signals to accelerate the energy transition and the need for certificate management tools address this problem.
Granular Energy is providing market solutions for 24/7 clean energy. It provides software to manage and trade clean energy. Its tools enable utilities and energy industry professionals to save time and costs in managing their energy attribute certificates, and meet the needs of their customers for next-generation, enhanced transparency green offers.
On asking about founders’, Granular Energy said, “Each have 10-15 years of industry experience which enables us to identify the problem and come up with the right solution.”
The company went on stating that the team size is 21 right now and their gender diversity is “better than the industry average, but that still means there’s room for improvement.” The Granular Energy team has extensive experience in clean energy, financial markets and energy software.
