Conjoule GmbH, a start-up developing p2p energy markets powered by blockchain technology, has raised €4.5 million in Series A funding round with investment from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. (TEPCO), the largest utility in Japan, and innogy Innovation Hub.
According to the official release, TEPCO invested €3 million in the startup. It is the first investor in an innogy Innovation Hub venture founded to build a blockchain-based decentralised energy marketplace.
"Blockchain technology will redefine what is possible within the energy ecosystem," said Shin-ichiro Kengaku, Managing Executive Officer and Chief of the Global Innovation & Investments at TEPCO. “We look forward to partnering with Conjoule and the innogy Innovation Hub to gain hands-on experience and drive the transformation of the energy industry."
Conjoule intends to use the amount raised to grow its technical team and to commercially launch the platform and initial product that have been in pilot during 2017 in selected markets in Europe, as well as to start the development and testing of the next products in Conjoule’s product roadmap.
“Conjoule has a clear vision to create tomorrow´s energy system: it´s decentralised, digitised and customer friendly. It follows the idea of the ‘sharing economy’ where consumers can buy energy directly from their neighbourhood via Conjoule´s platform. Conjoule is another example of the innogy Innovation Hub portfolio where we found and invest in new companies that have the potential of exponential growth in the future”, said Thomas Birr, Senior Vice President Innovation & Business Transformation of innogy SE and leading the innogy Innovation Hub.
Founded in 2017 by the innogy Innovation Hub, Conjoule is developing a p2p marketplace for producers and consumers of renewable energy, as well as owners of batteries and other sources of flexibility, to transact with each other without the need for intermediaries. The platform and launch product which allows residential prosumers with solar photovoltaic installed on their homes to sell excess electricity to local consumers are currently being piloted in two German cities.
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