As per the latest announcement, the two-and-a-half-year-old Antwerp startup June Energy announced a new capital round of €2.1 million recently. Some 5,000 customers already use the technology to switch regularly to a cheaper energy supplier.
June software analyzes the usage with algorithms and artificial intelligence. The software then compares the price one pays to the energy supplier with the offer from other suppliers. If June finds a rate that is cheaper, the software cancels the current contract and arranges a new contract. The customer does not have to fill in forms, although they decide whether they want to switch to the new supplier or not. When June finds a cheaper rate a few weeks or months later, the customer can change again from the energy supplier.
Customers at June change several times a year. They pay June Energy for that service €5 a month, after paying a one-off 60 euros for the intelligent devices that need to be installed.
The 2.1 million euros of fresh capital comes from a dozen private business angels. One of them is the Brussels IT entrepreneur François Lagae, who also invested during the first capital round of €430,000.
The founders also invested in both this and the previous round. Of the three founders, only Vincent De Dobbeleer and Georges Lieben are still active in the company, Jannes Van de maele is now passively shareholder. Civil engineer of computer sciences Vincent De Dobbeleer was a strategy and marketing manager for the energy producer Eneco Belgium in a previous life and became Marketeer of the Year in 2014. In 2015, he left the green power producer.
The Antwerp start-up employs ten people and aims for a turnover of more than €1 million this year. The entrepreneurial duo wants to use the freshly raised capital to further develop June technology and to stand stronger on the SME market.
GoGlobal Hong Kong Shenzhen
Last week Vincent De Dobbeleer and Georges Lieben traveled to Hong Kong and Shenzhen with the GoGlobal trade mission for start-ups of Startups.be. The Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, close to Hong Kong, has developed into the hardware capital of the world in recent years.
“In Shenzhen, we are looking for producers for parts of our energy meter,” said Vincent De Dobbeleer. At the moment production is in Croatia. The contacts in Shenzhen must allow the company to increase production, while at the same time reducing production costs.
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