Renewable energy developer CleverNett is investing €3 million for a minority stake in optimiser CIOC Energy.
After CleverNett spent the last couple of years as a client, the investment is a strong vote of confidence in CIOC Energy. “In the current energy market, most projects fail due to the combination of hardware, software and a profitable business model. After two years of intensive collaboration, we know firsthand that CIOC brings these three together in a single platform,” shares Arthur Despiegelaere, CEO at CleverNett.
“We build our own control module, write our own algorithms and test the batteries ourselves at the manufacturers in China,” explains CIOC Energy CEO Alexander De Bièvre. “As soon as you outsource one, you lose control over the result and therefore over what you are left with.”
Founded in September 2023 by the same mind behind Sentinel (a smart mobility IoT company with clients such as Lyft, BASF and USB), Alexander wanted to focus on renewable energy, partly thanks to his experience in China's energy sector. “The renewable market is moving fast, but the way those assets are steered is still too scattered. We sold batteries ourselves for years, so we know how quickly things can go wrong if no one is keeping an eye on things,” he says.
With CIOC Energy, he set out to create a link between software and hardware; between a battery standing on a site and the energy market it’s supposed to earn its money on. “Without continuous monitoring, defects go unnoticed. And in the event of a malfunction, everyone points fingers: the installer doesn't know the software, and the control system only executes what the energy trader decides. Ultimately, the customer doesn't know who to call,” Alexander adds. “As long as no one takes full control, that value simply remains untapped.”
CIOC Energy aims to change this by becoming the single point of contact for asset owners and developers: monitoring, steering and optimising their investment, as well as providing market access.
Since its founding, CIOC Energy has grown to 24 employees and powers more than 100 business locations. Through CleverNett – which develops on-site solar and corporate PPAs for Belgian businesses – CIOC Energy also powers 2,000 batteries for private homes.
“[CleverNett] saw the work from the inside, the results, the things that go wrong… and then decided to invest. That’s a kind of due diligence no term sheet gives you.”
Alexander reveals that, with this capital, CIOC Energy will continue strengthening its commercial and technical teams in its Belgium services, which it can then roll out in multiple European markets, including the Netherlands, Germany and Romania.
“The number is one thing; the long-term partnership is the real deal,” he continues. “With CleverNett we're building something together for the long term. They develop renewable energy, we make sure it earns what it should. Same vision, hands on the same problem.”
CIOC Energy will continue to operate independently.
