Luis Manuel, Executive Board Member at EDP Innovation, that ‘hosted’ this stage, says: “It was a great week, everything went according to plan, and the vibe was even better than expected. We are very pleased with the overall level of the 30 startups that qualified to the bootcamp, and we can honestly say we learned with all of them. It was not easy to pick and choose from such a strong batch. In fact, in the end we had to choose 15, and not the 12 we intended, and I believe that says a lot about the global quality of the program. Another positive was the fact that we got to showcase Lisbon, its booming ecosystem, and the great things we are doing here, so all the participants can take home a taste of Portugal. I’m confident we found innovative solutions, that can be adopted and integrated in our companies in an effort to help shape the future of the energy sector”.

In total, the program received 515 applications, from 65 different countries, a testament to the global reach of this initiative. The Free Electrons founders are Ausnet Services (Australia), DEWA (Dubai), EDP (Portugal), ESB (Ireland), Innogy (Germany), Origin Energy (Australia), SP Group (Singapure) e Tokyo Electric Power (Japan), with also the participation of American Electric Power (USA). The program is supported by Beta-i (Portugal).

Free Electrons' structure

Three international modules held across the globe are the cornerstone of Free Electrons. During the course of the program participants will work closely with local players, utilities, mentors and other resources in order to accelerate their company’s growth.

After this selection Bootcamp, the 1st Module will take place in Sydney and Melbourne (Australia). The 2nd Module will then move to Silicon Valley (USA), and the final stage, that closes the program, will happen in Berlin (Germany), in October.

The utilities backing Free Electrons are leading innovation in the energy sector. This project is a testimony of their commitment to work with startups in building the future of the sector with clean, smart and widely accessible energy.

Free Electrons 2017 generated an overall financial value of contracts signed between the 12 startups and the 8 utilities of about 2 million dollars, with a pipeline of ongoing opportunities surpassing 12 million dollars.