Energy buying platform Open Energy Market has secured £3m in funding from Calculus Capital to scale its operations and take the power away from brokers.
The company will use the money to make platform improvements and expand into other commodities and the US market.
The firm’s platform and ambition is to bring transparency to the energy buying market.
Most UK corporates use a broker. Using a middleman can add unnecessary cost and while some TPIs and buyers offer value for their cut, it can be an opaque market.
Open Energy Market says its platform streamlines the procurement process, using automation to help medium to large firms manage energy contracts. It does this by showing prices offered by suppliers and captures and stores the data that simplifies reporting, forecasting and portfolio management.
The firm claims more than 200 organisations have already benefitted from buying their energy via the platform, including Dairy Crest, EasyJet, Southampton FC and London Business School, as well as a local authorities, hospitals and schools.
“In an age where technology has helped streamline most business operations, it still amazes us how antiquated and manual our industry is,” said CEO and founder Chris Maclean.
“Our platform uses technical automation to cut through the complex market processes, alleviating many of the pain points that energy buyers face and ensuring their route to market is as efficient as possible.”
This is an exciting time for OEM as this partnership with Calculus will enable us to push our platform out to a wider audience and implement further innovative tools that will continue to re-shape the industry.”
Calculus Capital investment director, Alexandra Lindsay, commented:
“What the team at Open Energy Market have done is to streamline the broker process, because all the major suppliers are there on a single platform bidding for a company’s business.
“The service is designed to give companies greater transparency of their annual utility costs before they sign a contract.
“Our investment will help them strengthen their sales and software teams, expand their platform to cover additional utility services and make a move into the US market.”
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This will turn the Energy Broker market upiside down?
We may see some companies going to the wall/
Any Energy Broker views on this?