Berlin-based Lumenaza is a software platform that connects producers and consumers of green distributed energy. Having recently raised €6.5 million in its Series B funding round, the start-up has its sights set on European expansion and is working hard to help more green utilities to start, grow and evolve their business to collectively shape the energy revolution.

We caught up with Christian Chudoba, CEO and founder of Lumenaza, to talk about the story behind the start-up, current opportunities and challenges on their mission to accelerate green distributed electricity, and plans for the future.

Christian Chudoba

Christian Chudoba, CEO and founder of Lumenaza

 

Can you tell us a bit about what your company does and what you are focusing on at the moment

Christian: Lumenaza offers an energy-as-a-service software platform, empowering innovative green utilities to diversify their offering and deploy customer-centered new energy services fast. The comprehensive platform covers the full end-customer lifecycle for electricity products and comes with a suite of powerful software applications, such as advanced billing, a product catalog and a virtual power plant (VPP) as well as power market processes. The product catalog enables the simple and fast configuration of green energy offerings and pricing models, while the virtual power plant maximizes the value from even the smallest renewable assets.

Our platform is built to scale and to support multi-market operations, allowing us to expand our offering to geographies outside of our home market of Germany. Exploratory projects have already been successfully executed in Sweden, the UK and Spain, with the latter currently one of our priority markets for growth. We have just closed our Series B funding round and are looking forward to bringing our platform to additional exciting markets and further accelerating the consumption of green energy.

How did you come up with the idea for Lumenaza?

Christian: The original idea was very simple. At a family gathering in Bavaria I realized that many people produced their own electricity. I spent the whole evening listening to a farmer who was incredibly proud of his biogas system – and his solar system. Hearing those stories I wondered: Why can’t I buy electricity from him? I could easily buy food from him, but not the electricity. I would have liked that because then at least I would have known where the electricity came from and who receives the financial compensation for it. This set the foundation for the company we started to build in 2013.

What has been the biggest challenge on your mission to accelerate green distributed electricity?

Christian: We would like to see the market change even faster than it already is. One of our main focus areas is to make the energy market accessible for everyone so that producers, prosumers and consumers can easily interact and profit from powerful, easy-to-use solutions. As we’re scaling our platform, we’re now launching a product catalog that drastically shortens time-to-market and cost-to-service for any energy service provider. We’re very confident that this approach will reduce complexity for our customers, allowing them to launch new propositions at an unparalleled speed. We’re excited that we’re providing a meaningful contribution to accelerate green energy solutions.

What do you look for in an investor? What makes Future Energy Ventures different?

Christian: All our investors share the same mission: they invested because they see the impact and opportunity at the intersection of software and green energy. Future Energy Ventures has been by our side since our Series A funding in 2018 and has an outstanding commitment to the energy transition. Something very unique about Future Energy Ventures is its strong corporate network and a clear dedication to the future of energy.

What value does Future Energy Ventures bring to the table?  

Christian: Future Energy Ventures has a strong track record in the distributed energy space and is able to leverage learnings among its portfolio companies. We have been fortunate to profit from Future Energy Ventures’ insights and expertise, especially given its relationship with E.ON, one of Europe’s largest operators of energy networks and energy-related infrastructure and a provider of innovative customer solutions for about 50 million customers.

Where do you want to be in two years from now on this journey?

Christian: In two years from now, Lumenaza will be an international company with strong German roots. We’re looking forward to expanding our platform to other markets and driving the energy transition internationally.

Future Energy Ventures’ view on Lumenaza

We believe Lumenaza has built the most advanced SaaS platform for the future distributed energy world – 100% renewable, with certified clear origin. It’s a company that handles all the technological, operational and regulatory complexities required to participate in the energy market, so that its B2B partners can fully focus on building close relationships with their end-customers. Lumenaza could be compared to some fintech companies currently disrupting the banking industry, like Solarisbank or Mambu, rather for the energy sector with a particular focus on energy communities, be they hyperlocal or nationwide. It’s a company that fits perfectly with our vision for a decarbonized, decentralized and digitally-interconnected energy system.

Learn more about Lumenaza at https://www.lumenaza.de

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