Energy Shift is a web based, blockchain powered platform that enables citizens to jointly invest in and co-own solar parks.
Current Status
So far, we have participated in several business incubators (AlgebraLAB, Primer, Startup School by YCominator) and in the EIT Digital Venture program in May this year, and have managed to build an advanced level of MVP (screenshots and video links in appendix part). We also managed to validate our concept by conducting extensive user interviews, and we have gathered more than 1000 pre-registered citizens that made a soft commitment of approximately 1million EUR. Our solution and our team member are the finalists in the European Sustainable Energy Week Awards.
Problem or Opportunity
Did you know that 78% of the greenhouse gas emissions is caused by the energy sector? (source Eurostat and European environmental agency) That makes it the biggest area where we can make a huge impact in. There is also a lack of participation from citizens in tackling Global Warming, while we can see from Climate Marches that they want to be involved in tackling the climate change. And last but not least, UN reported that we need 1 trillion USD each year to meet the UN and EU targets, and currently we are lacking the funding to reach the targets.
Solution (product or service)
Energy Shift is building a web based, blockchain powered platform that enables citizens to jointly invest and co-own solar parks, thus democratising the energy sector and enabling citizens to actively participate in the energy transition to renewable energy.
Business model
The concept is simple. We get citizens to jointly invest in and co-own a part of a commercial solar park, or part of a solar system that we put on a local hospital/school/business. Solar panels from the system produce clean energy which is sold at a fixed price to the local hospital/school/business or the local utility. We use that revenue to pay out yearly dividends to citizens who supported the project, while the business receives a 10% discount on their current electricity bill. Energy Shift receives a recurring, monthly management and maintenance fee.
Incubation/Acceleration programs accomplishment
AlgebraLAB incubator
Innoenergy Primer pre-accelerator
SDG pre-accelerator
EIT Jumpstarter
EIT Digital Venture Program
StartupSchool by YC Combinator
