Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on solutions for the energy sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 4 promising blockchain startups.
Heat Map: 4 Top Blockchain Startups
For our 4 top picks, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 4 interesting examples out of 96 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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Lightency – Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Energy Trading
Blockchain networks enable customers to trade electricity and unite a multi-level system of electricity producers in one network. In such a decentralized system, all transactions are carried out directly in a network where all participants are equal and electricity is more affordable for everyone. A record cannot be altered retroactively, without altering all subsequent blocks and bypassing the centralized electricity distribution system.
Lightency, a French green-tech startup, develops a blockchain-based P2P electricity trading platform. The energy is produced, consumed, and exchanged locally using the platform, which lowers cost and increases efficiency. With micro-grid implementation, they ensure better grid control and stabilization and enhanced power performance by distributing energy resources.
MotionWerk – Charging Electric Vehicles (EVs)
EVs still face substantial obstacles to customer adoption since the shortage of public charging infrastructure can dissuade potential buyers. Blockchain applications that assist the management of, and payment for, EV charging increase energy efficiency. Blockchain networks enable private owners of charging infrastructure to sell charging services to EV owners and improve the appeal and uptake of EVs.
German startup MotionWerk supports homeowners and electricians overcome common barriers to EV charging installations. All electric vehicle users in the network receive information about the availability of surplus electricity at charging stations. They provide blockchain-based software solutions for mobility, understanding technological capabilities, and specific requirements. Share&Charge, one of their products, lays out a decentralized protocol for EV charging, transactions, and data sharing to enable companies to offer a seamless, smart and secure charging experience.
FlexiDAO – Sustainability Attribution
Unstable predictions about carbon emissions prevent seamless trading and distribution of renewable attributes across regions. Blockchain technology is able to accurately track and record emissions, thereby accelerating clean energy deployment and encouraging carbon emissions reduction. Governments can use distributed ledgers to record and trade the carbon emitted from production, transport, and usage of energy. To avoid carbon pricing policies, companies start to develop blockchain networks to record and trade attributes of sustainability such as renewable energy credits and carbon credits.
FlexiDAO, a CleanTech startup based in Spain, supports energy retailers to build service-driven business models by providing them with enterprise-grade business applications, using an open-source blockchain built on Ethereum. Energy generation data gathered from national data hubs, smart meters or SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is recorded, creating a digital unit of energy produced that is assigned to consumption based on the contractual agreements defined. This allows for demonstrable emission reductions by matching green energy generation with consumption in real-time.
Drone Energy – Internet of Things (IoT) & Smart Grids
Blockchain technology enables decentralized data exchange and remote control of the energy flow to a particular area by monitoring usage statistics. The simplified trading framework helps in setting up real-time energy markets and identity preserving transactions at much lower costs. However, the high computational and power requirements of IoT devices are important challenges that restrict the application of blockchain in IoT and smart grids.
The US-based startup Drone Energy makes energy grids more efficient through an industrial smart grid technology that pairs high-density computing to match producer supply and demand. They develop a decentralized, on-demand energy supply architecture that maximizes utilization, processing power, and profitability, providing sustainable blockchain energy management. They host, secure, and manage third-party blockchains, both private and public, in a low-cost scalable format.
What About The Other 91 Blockchain Startups?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence for your Proof of Concept (PoC), partnership, or investment targets. The 4 blockchain startups showcased above are promising examples out of 96 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
