INCENSe awards 14 startups with up to 150,000 euros each

• With an overall budget of about 8 million euros, INCENSe is the only CleanTech and energy accelerator co-funded by the European Commission as part of its FIWARE Accelerate programme.
• INCENSE has awarded the 14 startups in its first open call. The winners were selected from a shortlist of 26 finalists, who presented their proposals during an event held today in Rome, at the headquarters of Enel, INCENSE’s coordinator.
• Through a second open call, to be launched on June 15th, an additional 28 startups will be selected and given free grants and acceleration programmes from the Incense Consortium. In total, INCENSe will offer its support to 42 startups.

INCENSe (INternet Cleantech ENablers Spark), the business accelerator dedicated exclusively to clean technology and energy that is being supported by the European Commission’s FIWARE Accelerate programme, has picked 14 startups from its first open call during an awards ceremony held today at INCENSE coordinator Enel’s headquarters in Rome. INCENSe is an initiative launched by Enel, Endesa, Accelerace and FundingBox that aims to encourage innovation and high-tech employment in the European energy and cleantech sector.

The 14 winning startups are: Exploded View S.L. - Spain, Vatia Energia S.L. – Spain, Nozomi Networks – Switzerland, ReMoni – Denmark, ZENUP srl – Italy, Hevo Power – The Netherlands, Sensewaves S.A.S. –France, GreenApes – Italy, Geratriz, Lda – Portugal, nJoin – Israel, CloudGrid – Denmark, Applied Research to Technologies srl – Italy, Snapback – Italy, and TERA srl – Italy. These startups have been chosen because they have a huge technology and business potential and have demonstrated that they are capable of changing the role of the energy market.

“The selection was based on industrial criteria,” says Ernesto Ciorra, the Enel Group’s Head of Innovation and Sustainability. “We have worked hard alongside our Incense Partners in identifying the most promising startups, which are able to develop solutions that address real problems. The Enel Group is active in supporting the development of startups; we have created a team that is tasked with scouting for and supporting the best ventures around the world, who we then offer the benefits of our resources and skills.”

Each  winner will receive a free grant of up to 150,000 euros without equity considerations and  support services offered by INCENSe partners. These services include a six-month acceleration programme, additional coaching sessions, tailored workshops on European funding programmes, and access to test beds in Spain (such as Smart City Málaga), Denmark (such as Next Step City Living Lab in Esbjerg) and Italy.

Furthermore the selected startups will be invited to take part at brokerage events in order to present their projects to other investors like venture capital funds and business angels. The successful startups were selected from a shortlist of 26 finalists who today pitched their proposals to key managers from Enel, Endesa, Accelerace and FundingBox, as well as to external experts who acted as an independent sounding board.

INCENSe’s first open call was launched in October 2014 and gathered 232 applications from Europe and Israel through the website www.incense-accelerator.com. The submissions, 85% of which came from SMEs and 15% from entrepreneurs, were classified under the following categories: Energy Efficiency & Home Automation, Renewable Energy, Renewable Forecasting Solutions, Smart Grids, Energy Storage, Advanced Diagnostic & Automation Solutions, e-Mobility, Cyber-Security and Digitalization of Energy through ICT.

The Incense consortium will launch its second open call on June 15th and will offer an additional 28 free grants and acceleration programmes. In total, INCENSe, which has an overall budget of about 8 million euros co-funded by the European Commission, will offer its support to 42 startups.

INCENSe is coordinated by Enel, a multi-national power company and a leading integrated player in the world’s power and gas markets, with a particular focus on Europe and Latin America. Other partners include Enel subsidiary Endesa, Spain’s number one electricity business, Accelerace, a leading accelerator in northern Europe that has experience in supporting startups, and FundingBox Accelerator, which is the largest global public funding platform for startups and researchers. The competition winners will benefit both from the experience of these partners and the opportunities that the Enel Group’s large customer base and global presence could offer their products and services.

The FIWARE Accelerate Programme is the third phase of the Future Internet Public Private Partnership (FI-PPP) Programme, which was launched by the European Commission in 2011. The FI-PPP Programme has involved key European technology businesses in the development of an internet-based free technology platform (FIWARE), and had a budget of 400 million euros for its first two phases. The third phase, which has a budget of 80 million euros, aims to offer market access to products and services based on these technologies by supporting SMEs and web entrepreneurs, aiding the development of a new generation of European startups and encouraging high-tech employment.

For further details on INCENSe: www.incense-accelerator.com

INCENSe First Open Call Winners:

• Exploded View S.L. – Spain. A smart under floor heating system that uses a machine learning algorithm to manage temperature and that can also be integrated with other sensors.
• Vatia Energia S.L. – Spain. Software that performs an energy audit of buildings and, through data analysis, pinpoints which retrofits and upgrades will yield the largest savings.
• Nozomi Networks – Switzerland. The product enables the visualisation and monitoring of current and past operations on industrial networks, allowing operators to find and resolve security and operational issues.
• ReMoni – Denmark. A sensor that can be glued to cable and pipes, enabling precise measurement of energy consumption.
• ZENUP srl – Italy. A clamp-on, battery-powered device that can measure real-time gas consumption and gas leaks and communicate data via wireless protocol.
• Hevo Power – The Netherlands. A wireless charging platform based on magnetic resonance technology.
• Sensewaves S.A.S – France. The product transforms sensor data to business-ready data by providing energy utilities with the tools to auto-detect and analyse the consumption patterns and habits of their customers (end users).
• GreenApes – Italy. A corporate social network that engages employees in energy efficiency practices and in the suggestion of eco-innovative ideas.
• Geratriz, Lda – Portugal. A web-based building utility management system that integrates all utilities and telemetry data into one tool for the monitoring, management, and forecasting of utility consumption and production.
• nJoin – Israel. A Plug and Play sensor for industrial facilities, which analyses plant operations, preventing faults and improving efficiency.
• CloudGrid – Denmark. CloudGrid offers an end-to-end system for the real-time monitoring and control of any electrical, water, or natural gas network.  By integrating seamlessly with a cloud-based data management, visualisation and analytics platform, CloudGrid gives facilities managers immediate insight into energy and resource consumption.
• Applied Research to Technologies S.r.l. – Italy. E-mobility software that plans trips according to charging needs , managing the charge according to customers’ needs and providing details for billing.
• Snapback – Italy. An interface based on low visual and touch-free device interaction. These devices can be used to prevent accidents in Operations & Maintenance activities.
• TERA srl – Italy. An energy accounting platform for end-users that provides information to help change their behaviour and take informed decisions on energy management.