Nordic scale-ups joining forces to conquer Europe with smart energy and solar app

Tibber has entered into a partnership with Otovo, the solar energy marketplace, to cross sell each other’s products. Tibber makes an app that is powered by AI to manage energy use in homes when electricity costs are low and has integrated their offering with a multitude of hardware makers, including Tesla, BMW, EV charger manufacturer Easee and more. Otovo is a marketplace for solar installers that selects the cheapest and best quality local installers as homeowners want to make their own energy.

• Now that energy prices are increasing across Europe, our users were increasingly asking for an app to manage their energy consumption to the optimal times in the day. Partnering with Tibber was logical to answer that consumer demand. With solar panels on the roof and an energy app with brains, they stand to save hundreds of euros per month on their electricity bill, says Otovo CEO Andreas Thorsheim.

Both Tibber and Otovo are betting heavily on European growth in 2019 and 2020. Tibber recently raised $12m in equity from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Petter Stordalen in the first quarter in 2019, while Otovo raised the same amount a quarter earlier from Nysnø Climate Investments and KLP. Tibber is Scandinavia’s fastest growing electricity provider, while Otovo is the region’s largest solar energy company and recently entered France by acquiring In Sun We Trust.

• European energy markets are going through a massive change. It’s getting easier to make, store and optimize energy at home, and power is quite literally moving from the large utilities to consumers and their smart devices, says Edgeir Aksnes, CEO of Tibber.

Tibber will take over Otovo’s portfolio of electricity subscribers in Norway and Sweden as part of the agreement. Otovo’s customers will get the benefit of Tibber’s technology working to optimize the energy produced by the solar panels by triggering car charging or other devices in the home at the right times - essentially operating the house like a battery.

Going forward Otovo will offer the Tibber subscription to their solar energy customers while providing data from the solar array to the Tibber app. The agreement covers Norway and Sweden, where both companies operate today, but also contains a clause for expansion as their footprint gets bigger.

• We’re looking to grow in the large and advanced markets in Europe. These markets usually have high potential for energy optimization in addition to solar, so Tibber is the obvious partner all across the continent, says Thorsheim. Aksnes adds:
• We have already established Europe’s largest virtual battery by connecting thousands of electric cars. Together with Otovo we are now aiming to connect thousands of homes into a huge virtual solar power plant, accelerating our transition to a sustainable future.