Incentivising energy efficiency in the home
Energy Systems Catapult’s Innovator Support Platform (ISP) delivered tailor made business incubation and acceleration support that enabled Equiwatt, a provider of digital smart meter automation technology, to secure over £300,000 in investment.
Through using the Equiwatt app…our users can achieve big savings through switching off devices collectively at peak times, and also secure rewards and incentives for doing so
Technology that incentivises consumers to save energy at peak times
Through participation with the ISP, Equiwatt drew on expertise from across Energy Systems Catapult. This included an appraisal of their business model to optimise revenue, identifying potential partnership opportunities and refining their consumer value proposition. Equiwatt was able to develop a Digital Energy Fitness Assessment, complete a regulatory and policy landscape review and gain significant consumer insight; contributing to eventual investor readiness.
Equiwatt’s digital platform uses artificial intelligence to simultaneously reduce residential electricity demand, gifting flexibility to network operators and electricity companies. Equiwatt’s app incentivises consumers to save energy at peak times through a rewards scheme, utilising smart meter data to monitor household energy usage and automatically turn-off appliances to reduce demand.
For the successful development of a Net Zero energy system, reliance on electricity is likely to rise substantially. This will require improvements to power networks, either with costly infrastructure upgrades or by maximising the efficiency of the capacity in situ. Equiwatt’s offering reduces the need for expensive upgrades. The app allows for a greener energy grid with each home saving 360 kilowatt hours of energy per year and is designed to make energy saving fun for consumers.
The investment Equiwatt received will allow the company to run trials in the Gateshead area, creating four new jobs. The funding round involved the North East Venture Fund – supported by the European Regional Development Fund – and North East angel investor Owen McFarlane.
