Participated · Equity · Dec 2023

Octopus Energy builds and licenses the Kraken data and machine-learning platform to energy suppliers and other partners, supporting smart tariffs and demand flexibility. Kraken is contracted to support over 54 million customer accounts worldwide and to manage more than 38 GW across 180,000 green energy assets in 12 countries. Under its retail brand the company delivers energy products to 7.8 million households and operates across 18 countries. The platform is licensed to major suppliers including EDF, E.ON and Origin Energy and Octopus recently signed a multi-year contract with Saint John Energy in Canada. The company says Kraken reduces costs for suppliers and improves customer service while enabling electrification of heat and transport through smarter systems. Leadership states the new investor support will help ramp innovation, expand global impact and accelerate growth across North America, Europe and emerging markets. Octopus Energy Group operates retail energy services and the Kraken technology platform, which is licensed to support over 52 million customer accounts worldwide. Under its own retail brand it serves 7.2 million households and the group says its operations span 18 countries and the entire energy value chain. The group invests in, builds and manages renewable projects and reports operating a roughly £6 billion portfolio of projects; it also states its renewable generation portfolio has grown to about $7.6bn (£6bn). Octopus has expanded into electric-vehicle leasing and secured a £550m funding facility for Octopus Electric Vehicles, and in 2023 launched heat-pump installation and began manufacturing its own models. Recent strategic moves include the acquisition of Shell’s Energy and Broadband business in the UK and Germany and an inaugural wind and solar project in Sierra Leone, bringing its footprint to 18 countries. The company highlights strong customer metrics—Which? Recommended for six consecutive years, high Trustpilot scores (~4.8/5) and customer savings delivered via programmes such as Saving Sessions. Octopus Energy Group is a London-based clean energy technology company whose core product is the Kraken energy platform. Kraken supports the company's retail, generation and flexibility businesses and is the focus of continued development. The company manages 3GW of energy projects. Octopus raised $550 million in new investment to further improve Kraken and expand renewables. The capital will be used to develop products and solutions aimed at addressing the energy crisis and driving renewables at scale. Company leadership highlighted backing from investors including CPP Investments, Generation, Origin and Tokyo Gas. Octopus Energy Group is a London‑based renewable energy retailer that also develops the Kraken smart‑grid technology platform for customer service. The Kraken platform currently holds about 17 million accounts and the company aims to reach 100 million accounts by 2027. Octopus serves more than 3 million customers in the U.K. and supplies energy in the U.S., Germany, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and Japan, and has established its U.S. headquarters in Houston. The company’s renewable investment arm, Octopus Energy Generation, manages assets exceeding $4.5 billion. Octopus is on track to supply enough wind and solar energy to power 2 million more homes by 2025 and plans to activate 30 more wind turbines. The business positions itself around improving customer experience and expanding access to renewable energy globally. Octopus Energy Group is a U.K. energy-technology company built around its "Kraken" platform that reroutes energy from renewable sources across networks. It manages 17 million energy accounts in 12 countries and operates retail businesses in the U.K., U.S., Germany, Spain and New Zealand while licensing technology to multiple partners. The group runs 13 businesses and is an owner-operator of wind, solar and biomass generation assets, currently holding £3.5 billion in generation assets with plans to 10x that over the next ten years. Octopus has launched Electric Juice, an EV roaming network covering 100,000 charge points, and partnered with Tesla to launch Tesla Power in the U.K. and Germany. The company has acquired smart-grid specialist Upside Energy, established the Centre for Net Zero, and invested £10 million in an R&D and Training Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat. Octopus says it will use new strategic funding to push further into the U.S. market, where it already has a presence in Texas.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2021

Octopus Energy Group is a global clean energy tech pioneer launched in 2016 that uses technology to unlock a customer-focused green energy revolution. Its core product is Kraken, a proprietary energy technology platform based on advanced data and machine learning that supports its retail, generation and flexibility businesses and is licensed to major energy players including E.ON and EDF. Collectively Kraken is licensed to support 25 million accounts globally, and Octopus’s domestic energy arm serves 3.4 million customers. The group manages renewables—cited as managing 3GW of energy projects and a £3.4 billion portfolio of renewable energy assets in Europe. Proceeds from the recent fundraising will be used to improve Kraken and to invest in products and solutions to help solve the energy crisis and drive renewables at scale. Operations span 14 countries and the company is part of Octopus Group, a certified B Corp. Octopus Energy Group builds energy software (Kraken) and retail energy businesses that automate the energy supply chain using data and machine learning. Kraken is licensed to support over 17 million energy accounts globally and Octopus’s retail brands serve 3.1 million customers after acquiring Avro Energy’s 600,000 accounts. The group manages a multi-billion-pound portfolio of renewable assets (noted as around £3–3.4bn) and runs businesses across domestic, business and generation segments. Octopus is investing in R&D and training — including a £10 million UK Centre for Decarbonisation of Heat — and has established the Centre for Net Zero to inform policy and scale clean technologies. It has also expanded into smart-grid and EV infrastructure (Electric Juice roaming network with over 100,000 charge points) and acquired smart-grid specialist Upside Energy. The company has launched in multiple markets including the US, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Australia and aims to support 100 million energy accounts on Kraken by 2027.

Led · Series B · May 2017

People Power provides an IoT Suite that enables intelligent device connectivity and rapid deployment of consumer IoT programs for energy retailers, digital service providers, telecoms and manufacturers. The suite integrates AI using bots to interpret real-time data streams and learn user patterns to deliver more intelligent outcomes. Its ready-made white-label cloud and mobile stacks support services across security, safety, energy management and care, driving recurring revenues for partners. People Power is partnering with utility companies to curate pilot programs and broader market trials of smart home services. The company recently closed a Series B-1 financing to accelerate deployments and meet global demand. Founded in 2009 and based in Palo Alto, People Power focuses on delivering end-to-end software for connected lifestyle experiences. People Power provides apps, cloud and mobile services for the Internet of Things, centered on its FabrUX and Influx software architectures. Its core offering is the FabrUX IoT software stack that enables manufacturers and service providers to launch products and services with ready-made cloud and mobile software stacks. The company also offers a consumer app, Presence, which transforms spare smart devices into wireless video cameras and lets users secure and control their homes; the app is available as a white-labeled framework. Founded in 2009 and based in Palo Alto, California, People Power is pursuing expansion in both the U.S. and China. The company recently raised $4.4M in a Series B round led by MediaTek. It plans to use proceeds to develop new IoT products based on FabrUX and Influx and to add hires in sales, marketing and engineering. People Power is a Palo Alto–based startup building a mobile app that acts as a remote control for home electricity, enabling users to turn lights and devices on and off easily. The company won AT&T Developer Program's $20,000 Power the Future competition at CES. People Power has raised $5 million in a Series A and is now raising Series B funding. The team includes about a dozen full-time employees and roughly thirty additional staff, led by CEO Gene Wang and CTO David Moss. The company has a hardware partnership with Monster and is developing "People Power 2.0," an upgraded app intended to enable remote control of home power. The founders previously worked together at Bitfone, which was acquired by HP. People Power builds an open-source Home Area Network (OSHAN) platform and companion sensory devices that aggregate appliance-level energy data into a central online portal. Its hardware lineup includes GreenVent (HVAC), GreenHeat (water heaters), GreenSentry (to convert electric meters into smart meters), GreenDog (dryer monitoring) and a power strip for TVs and electronics. The devices are designed to learn usage patterns over time and eventually enable automated on/off control to trim electricity use and bills. The company plans to distribute the OSHAN service free for others to build applications on top of the platform. People Power has teamed with researchers at UC‑Berkeley and Stanford to develop its open-source wireless network. Financially, the Palo Alto company has raised an undisclosed first round from New Cycle Capital and several angel investors.