TransGrid, Endeavour Energy join EnergyLab Scaleup Program

Nine late-stage energy startups will join the second cohort of EnergyLab’s Scaleup Program, delivered in partnership with TransGrid and Endeavour Energy. Offering an opportunity for startups to collaborate with innovative utilities, investors and founders, the program will help the nine startups unlock their next wave of growth.

EnergyLab’s Scaleup Program was launched in 2020 after being built collaboratively with Australian utilities and startups. The industry-led program is sponsored this year by TransGrid and Endeavour Energy. Between them, TransGrid and Endeavour Energy operate a sizeable portion of the electricity infrastructure across NSW and the ACT.

When selecting this year’s Scaleup Program cohort, EnergyLab, TransGrid and Endeavour Energy identified their priority areas and recruited startups from across the world that could help unlock new opportunities to save customers money and speed the transition to a low-carbon future. Through the program the startups will deepen their relationships with TransGrid and Endeavour Energy, meet clean energy investors from across ANZ, and have opportunities to connect with EnergyLab’s Innovation Partners. These Innovation Partners represent the most innovative utilities in Australia and New Zealand and include Aurora Energy, CS Energy, FRV and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

The nine startups selected to join EnergyLab’s 2021 Scaleup Program cohort include Aperio Systems (USA, Israel), Camus Energy (USA), Electron (UK), Neara (Australia), Overstory (Netherlands), Proxxi (Canada), Shifted Energy (USA), V-Labs (Switzerland) and Zaphiro Technologies (Switzerland). The cohort represents a diverse global mix of startups that work with energy utilities to innovate across their businesses, from asset management and network operations to grid modernisation.

From data integrity (Aperio Systems), augmented reality (V-Labs) and electrical safety (Proxxi) to critical infrastructure digital twins (Neara) and distributed energy resource aggregation (Shifted Energy), these startups are among the best in innovative technologies across the energy sector. The program asks members of its cohorts to build relationships with each other, with one-third of the first cohort collaborating formally together.

EnergyLab Chair Piers Grove said in a statement that having TransGrid and Endeavour Energy as program partners will provide an opportunity to promote innovation and help advance the uptake of renewable technologies in the energy sector.

“We’re really excited about this global cohort and the opportunity to help them grow through new access to Australian and New Zealand markets. In the age of COVID-19, especially, we’re proud to give Australian utilities access to the best local and overseas energy startups while other, more traditional means of collaboration and expansion remain disrupted,” said Grove.

Eva Hanley, Executive Manager of Strategy, Innovation and Technology at TransGrid, added that the companies in the cohort have a lot to offer the energy sector. “We’re thrilled to be supporting the EnergyLab Scaleup Program and the exciting cohort of scale-up companies taking part. We’re looking forward to offering them the opportunity to work with us and to develop innovative solutions together,” said Hanley.

From the startup cohort, Shifted Energy CEO Forest Frizzell said the company is thrilled to be making a Hawaii-to-Australia connection, working with Endeavour Energy and EnergyLab to gain experience and explore scalable solutions for consumer engagement and grid support through monitoring and aggregation of distributed energy resources like water heaters.

“Expanding the capabilities of Shifted Energy’s Grid Maestro platform in the Australian market is very exciting and we see a ton of alignment of our capabilities and the decarbonisation goals of Australia,” said Frizzell.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/jamesteohart