Europe’s electricity market is becoming increasingly volatile. Regulatory pressures, new competitors like Tibber and Octopus, and rising consumer expectations create challenges from multiple directions. But what if utilities could turn this disruption into an advantage?
Vienna-based Podero, a software platform that helps utilities reduce energy costs for flexible consumer devices by over 25%, has secured €5.5M in oversubscribed seed funding. Planet A Ventures led the round, with Systemiq Capital co-investing and existing investors Pale Blue Dot and Push Ventures participating.
This new funding will accelerate Podero’s mission to drive the transition to green energy and enhance grid stability. The company plans to establish a European sales and customer success team, expand its marketing efforts, and advance product development, including boosting integrations, optimising algorithms across more electricity markets for significant savings, and developing features to streamline utility-product optimisation.
Podero: giving utilities a competitive edge
As homes increasingly adopt renewable energy and electric devices, utilities face growing challenges managing fluctuating energy consumption from solar, wind, and distributed energy resources. New competitors like Octopus, Tibber, and Greenly are reshaping the market, while installers such as 1Komma5, Enpal, and Soly focus on equipping customers with heat pumps, EVs, and batteries. With German regulations mandating dynamic tariffs, utilities must embrace smart flexibility solutions to stay competitive and retain customers.
Podero addresses these challenges by helping utilities reduce electricity prices and CO2 emissions. Founded in July 2022 by software engineers Chris Bernkopf, a serial entrepreneur and Y Combinator alum, and Moritz Schrader, an ex-Volkswagen electrician specialising in autonomous driving software, the company aims to cut energy costs and carbon emissions.
At its core, Podero is a software platform that helps utilities reduce energy costs for flexible consumer devices known as Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). These include heat pumps, EVs and chargers, inverters, and home batteries. Podero delivers cost savings of over 25%. These savings enable utilities to trade aggregated device power on energy markets, benefiting both utilities and consumers.
Utilities can access Podero through their white-label app or integrate it via API. “We are seeing rapidly increasing volatility in electricity markets and new competitors. Utilities must innovate to offer products that help customers save costs and give them control over their energy usage,” says Tobias Övall, Manager of Digitalization and Transformation, Retail at E.ON Nordics, a Podero customer for 1.5 years.
Device steering and trading enablement
While competitors like 1Komma5, Enpal, Tibber, Greenly, and Viessmann focus only on device integration, Podero offers device control and trading capabilities. Chris Bernkopf, co-founder and CEO of Podero, told TFN: “Podero’s model enables utilities to roll out the best electricity contracts. Utilities are allowed to trade on the markets, and they already own the end-user relationship and have massive amounts of funds to deploy.”
Podero’s device control system works with over 54 manufacturers, including Tesla, Viessmann, Huawei, Fronius, and Volkswagen. The platform optimises device operation using market signals, spot prices, and household PV production. “Our platform gives utilities a competitive edge in electricity pricing. With our device control and trading technology, they can offer lower rates that others can’t match without similar software,” said Bernkopf.
Additionally, Podero provides forecasts and trading recommendations, allowing utilities to trade aggregated device power across key electricity markets, including spot day-ahead, intraday, and balancing energy markets.
Renewables to take over the utility market in Europe
“Podero is tackling one of the most pressing challenges in the energy transition—helping utilities unlock the full potential of decentralised energy resources while maintaining grid stability. With strong regulatory tailwinds and increasing market volatility, the demand for intelligent flexibility solutions is higher than ever. Podero’s advanced device steering and trading technology positions them as a key enabler of more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable energy markets,” says Nick de la Forge, Partner at Planet A.
Bernkopf predicted that renewables will dominate energy in five years, coinciding with over 100 million new electrical devices. He anticipates greater price volatility in electricity markets due to growing renewable energy production and flexible consumption devices like heat pumps, batteries, and electric vehicles. This volatility will widen the gap between optimised and regular contracts, as utilities must adopt innovative solutions quickly to compete amid numerous new entrants.
