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Day 1- Startup Pitch Competition at Imperial College

The first day of Japan Energy Challenge opened with a networking reception at Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus. Programme sponsors were then given a tour of the facilities available at the Energy Futures Lab and listened to keynote speeches from academics and startups affiliated with the university.

Interspersed with breaks for coffee and lunch, the Japanese sponsors attended talks with featured guest speakers which included representatives from Octopus Energy, Energy Systems Catapult, EdF Energy and Igloo Energy, with the option of dedicated roundtable meetings.

This was followed by a series of early-stage startup pitches from all over Europe during the Startup Pitch Competition. Winner Poligy will be going to Japan for a chance to meet key decision-makers from our sponsor companies in their home market.

Thank you to Imperial College London for hosting Japan Energy Challenge's Pitch Competition! Our first speaker was Professor Tim Green, director of the Energy Futures Lab at Imperial College London

Tim Heal, Director of Strategy at Octopus Energy, telling our sponsors about his company’s technology-led approach to innovation and how Octopus has achieved consistent growth by putting the customer first.

Matt Clemow, CEO of Igloo Energy, discussing the innovative steps new energy suppliers can take to differentiate themselves in the market.

A networking session between startups and sponsors.

Andrew Stokes, Business Development Manager at Energy Systems Catapult, covering the steps his company is taking to further partnerships for innovation in the UK energy sector.

Shirin Shah, Innovation Lead at EDF Energy, delivering a keynote speech on how a large utility can foster innovation by both scouting externally and promoting employees’ projects internally.

Octopus Energy’s Tim Heal sitting down with our sponsors for a roundtable meeting.

Matt Clemow of Igloo providing more insights into his company’s strategy during his roundtable meeting with our sponsors.

Jon Ferris, Strategy director at Electron, opened the Startup Pitch Competition by delivering his pitch to our sponsors. Electron is a London-based energy technology company, combining blockchain and energy expertise to design and build digital infrastructure for the energy industry.

Henning Schulze-Lauen, Managing Director of enercast. Enercast delivers accurate power forecasts for wind power and solar plants, thus enabling the integration of renewable energy into power grids and energy markets worldwide.

Felix Grolman, Chief Commercial Officer, pitching at JEC 2019 for Greencom Networks. Greencom’s energy information brokerage platform enables utilities, ESCOs, and OEMs to turn distributed energy assets into revenue streams and into benefits for their customers.

Lyubomir Yanchev, Executive Director of MClimate pitching at JEC2019. MClimate is an IoT company which changes the way people use the appliances they already have.

MClimate’s products connect to customers’ heating and cooling systems, allowing them to gain control over 70% of their electricity bill.

Our audience of Japanese sponsors and European startups attending the JEC Startup Pitch Competition

Naked Energy’s Finance Director, Nicholas Simmons took part in in JEC2019. Naked Energy has designed VirtuPVT – a high energy density solution providing combined solar heat and power in an installation suitable for a rooftop, ground or building façade.

Matthew Osborn, Solutions Manager, represented Passiv Systems at JEC2019. Passiv have developed a range of home energy services aimed at making energy usage more efficient and affordable for millions of households.

Martin Huber pitching Poligy’s Bipolymer modules to JEC2019’s sponsors. The Bipolimer modules can produce electricity, hot water and heat, while also storing excess energy.

Alicia Leow in charge of International Business Development at Poligy, presents the benefits of her company's product. of Poligy claims that its technology can convert solar and industrial waste heat into electricity at a cheaper cost than any previous technology.

We have a winner! Our Japanese sponsors chose Poligy as the Japan Energy Challenge Startup Pitch Competition winner of 2019.

Day 2- Venture Competition at Radisson Blue Hotel

Yohei Kiguchi, founder of Japan Energy Challenge opened the programme’s second day with a speech in front of sponsors, officially launching the Venture Competition, our main event. Mr. Kiguchi opened the floor for the day’s pitches of mostly UK companies: Connected Energy, Green Energy Options, Kaluza, KiWi Power, Open Energi, Solargis (from Slovakia), EO Charging, Power Ledger (from Australia) and Switchd.

Each of the participants had the chance to meet one-on-one with sponsors interested in bringing a collaborative project to life during a series of meetings taking place throughout the day.

The day’s closing reception was held at the prestigious Oxford and Cambridge Club. Programme sponsors and participants were treated to Champagne and canapes under the venue’s magnificent oil paintings and sparkling crystal chandelier.

Founder of the programme, Yohei Kiguchi, opens the Venture competition with a speech for this year’s sponsors.

Mark Bailey, CCO of Connected Energy presenting his company at JEC2019 Venture Competition. Mark explained to sponsors in the audience how his company provides energy storage units comprised of second-life EV batteries.

Patrick Caiger-Smith, CEO of Green Energy Options (geo) showcasing his company at JEC2019. GEO use their smart energy devices to help customers save money on their energy bills.

Tom Pakenham, Director of Electric Vehicles of Kaluza taking part in the venture competition. Kaluza provides a platform to securely connect, control, and optimise a wide range of IoT enabled flexible assets.

Nima Tabatabai, International Market Development Leader taking part in JEC 2019 on behalf of company KiWi Power. Kiwi is the UK’s leading demand response aggregator, working with system operators like National Grid to reduce electricity consumption at peak times and create a cleaner, more cost-effective grid.

David Hill, Commercial Director of Open Energi presenting his company to the sponsors of JEC 2019. Open Energi manage distributed energy to radically reduce electricity costs and provide flexible capacity to enable a 100% renewable energy system

Marcel Suri, Managing Director of Solargis joined us for JEC 2019. Solargis provide solar and meteorological data, energy-calculation software and consultancy for developers, investors and operators of solar power plants.

Charlie Jardine, founder and CEO of EO Charging delivering his company’s pitch to JEC 2019 sponsors. EO designs and manufactures EV charging stations and smart software for homes, fleets and destinations.

Power Ledger 's Head of Business Development Vinod Tiwari presenting at JEC 2019. Power Ledger designed a blockchain-enabled energy trading platform that can be used to buy and sell electricity in real time.

Thomas Rogers, Director of Switchd joined us at JEC 2019. With Switchd, electricity and gas customers can automatically switch to the best energy deal.

Sponsors and startups joined our networking session at the Oxford and Cambridge Club.

We closed our second day at the Oxford and Cambridge Club with lovely canapes and Champagne.

Day 3- Venture Competition at Radisson Blue Hotel

Opening Japan Energy Challenge’s third day were Paul Monroe, Program Director and Kensuke Nishimura, consultant from German publication Umwerlin, who discussed lessons learned from the decarbonisation of Germany’s energy sector.

The third day of JEC was dedicated to pitches of companies from the European Union, participants included EVBox, Heliatek, Lumenaza, tiko, Virta and Ezzing Solar. As in the previous day, all participants met with interested sponsors over the course of several one-on-one meetings throughout the day.

JEC Program Director Paul Monroe opens the floor for JEC 2019’s third day.

Kensuke Nishimura, consultant from Umwerlin publication joined us to discuss current trends in the German energy sector and how these have affected the wider economy.

Bjorn Utgard -Director of New Markets- and Max Davis -Business Development Manager- presenting EVBox’s solutions to our sponsors. EVBox build easy-to-use and durable charging solutions (hardware and software) for electric cars.

The EVBox team with a product demostration during a meeting with sponsors.

Guido van Tartwijk - CEO- and Spiros Christaras -Business Development Manager- represented Heliatek at JEC 2019. Heliatek make Organic Solar Films, a flexible and light solar panel for the building industry that can be installed on many more surfaces than traditional PV modules.

The Heliatek team with a product demostration during a meeting with sponsors.

Christian Chudoba -CEO- and Tereza Borges -Business Development Manager- of Lumenaza, representing their company at JEC 2019. Lumenaza’s “utility-in-a-box” software connects producers and consumers of locally produced renewable power so they can build up a regional, communal and transparent supply with green electricity.

Samuel Enggist -Senior Business Manager- presenting tiko to JEC 2019’s sponsors. tiko operates a unique software platform that brings retail electricity customers the power of a virtual power plant and smart home energy management system designed to connect and control residential and SME assets.

Jussi Palola, CEO of Virta presenting his company to JEC 2019 sponsors. Virta provide homes and businesses with a connection to smart charging stations and charging networks for their electric vehicles.

Victor Sancho, CCO and co-founder of Ezzing Solar presenting his company at JEC 2019. Ezzing have developed an “all-in-one” software solution that simplifies solar PV sales and allows companies to develop and be profitable in providing distributed generation.

Day 4- Final day and Winners’ announcement

Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) representative Hiroyuki Kinoshita opened the fourth and final day of JEC with a speech on current retail energy market trends, followed by EnelX’s Fabrizio Gasbarri who gave an overview of his company’s activities in the cleantech sector. Yohei Kiguchi closed the Venture competition event with his final speech to this year’s sponsors.

Returning to JEC, alumni BrillPower, Powervault and Piclo updated old and new sponsors with news and announcements regarding their respective companies.

JEC’s closing reception and awards nomination was held at London’s prestigious Institute of Directors. Winning companies Connected Energy, Heliatek, EVBox and KiWi Power collected their trophies and celebrated with their peers. The four weren’t the only winners, as all participants were given the chance to set up a collaborative project with one or more of the sponsors. Follow this space for updates!