Electron, a London-based technology company, is welcoming Paul Massara to its board, Financial Times reported.
Massara is the former boss of utility company Npower. He left the company in 2015 and is joining the startup that seeks to leverage blockchain technology to enable households with smart meters to switch energy suppliers more efficiently.
"He will bring invaluable industry and business experience to the company," said Electron chief executive Paul Ellis, as quoted by City A.M. "This is also a testament to the growing recognition within the energy industry of the opportunity afforded by blockchain to speed innovation and cut costs. Both of which will be good news to consumers.”
Founded in 2015, Electron seeks to harness blockchain technology to develop more efficient, resilient and flexible systems for the energy sector. It intends to design platforms and services for empowering the industry to address the challenges and maximise the potential of new technologies such as distributed renewable generation and storage capacity, the smart grid and connected devices.
In December 2016, the company announced the development of a registration platform for electricity and gas meters built on Ethereum blockchain. Electron said that the platform is capable of supporting the reduction of supplier switching time from 17 days to mere minutes.
"It is clear that blockchain will disrupt many markets including the energy market and having scanned the market, it was clear that Electron will be a major player," said Massara, as quoted by City A.M.
The startup has raised around £400K in pre-seed funding from private investors and has secured two Innovate UK grants totaling £150k, to develop its technology.
