Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups in the energy industry. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we decided to share our insights with you. So, let’s take a look at promising tokenization solutions.
Heat Map: 5 Top Tokenization Startups
For our 5 picks of tokenization startups, we used a data-driven startup scouting approach to identify the most relevant solutions globally. The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 interesting examples out of 200 relevant solutions. Depending on your specific needs, your top picks might look entirely different.
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MotionWerk – Autonomous EV Charging Stations
The tokenization of the energy sector reimagines electric vehicle (EV) charging by enabling autonomous EV charging stations. A process named block charge works by using a computer chip in the charging station, a smartphone app to communicate with the interface, and blockchain technology to manage and record all of the payment and charging data. German MotionWerk develops Share&Charge — an Ethereum-based decentralized protocol for tracking the charging transactions and exchange payments between customer and host. This solution allows EV owners to safely pay for the charging services on the go as well as helps the owners of charging stations that are now able to independently set their own tariffs and adapt them at any time.
Elon City – Energy Trading Within Microgrids
Another application of tokenization in the energy industry is creating a blockchain powered platform for energy trading within microgrids. In this case, energy is generated, stored, and peer-to-peer transacted locally by members of the community, enabling a more sustainable and self-sufficient energy model. Californian Elon City decentralizes power infrastructure and thereby enables millions of self-sufficient microgrids where locally produced energy is available 24/7. The company’s blockchain-based trade systems make the energy trade transparent while an artificial intelligence-based algorithm finds fair market prices as a reference in real-time.
SolarCoin – Renewable Cryptocurrencies
The aim of renewable cryptocurrencies is to incentivize producers of green energy generated from renewable sources and therefore enable a further transition to clean energy. This model is similar to rewarding blockchain miners with bitcoins for the computations performed to mine each block of transactions. Brazilian SolarCoin creates a cryptocurrency with the same name to motivate solar electricity producers by rewarding them with blockchain-based digital tokens at the rate of one SolarCoin (SLR) per Megawatt-Hour (MWh) of solar energy produced. SolarCoin is spendable and tradeable just like a cryptocurrency but focused on incentivizing real-world environmental activity – verifiably produced solar energy.
XiWATT – Renewable Energy Crowdfunding
Tokenization in the energy industry is applied to let people around the world invest money in clean energy projects. A blockchain-powered platform allows people to fund renewable energy projects through the sale and trading of the “tokenized” energy produced by those systems. US-based XiWATT develops a scalable clean energy crowdfunding platform that connects energy developers, consumers, and investors. This platform helps investors easily fund renewable energy projects of any scale and receive tokenized energy assets in proportion to the amount invested.
Sun Exchange – Solar Micro-Leasing Platform
Blockchain technology can be used to efficiently crowdfund renewable energy projects, especially solar, down to the micro level of an individual solar cell and lease them to schools and businesses, for example. These platforms help accelerate energy access in the developing regions of the world. US-based Sun Exchange develops a blockchain-based solar panel micro-leasing platform. Through this platform, anyone with an internet connection can purchase solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and lease them to businesses, hospitals, schools and other organizations located in sunny regions of the planet. Solar cell owners receive lease rental payments, while people in emerging countries can enjoy the benefits of affordable clean energy. Sun Exchange has over 4,000 registered members located in over 70 countries so far.
What About The Other 195 Solutions?
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 5 tokenization startups showcased above are promising examples out of 200 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria and collaboration strategy, get in touch.
