Propel your business with Ørsted
About Ørsted Propel
At Ørsted, we’re committed to working with innovative start-ups that are ready to tackle the challenges the energy industry faces. Therefore, we’ve officially launched a four-month open innovation programme with Rockstart – a leading early stage VC-accelerator – to find the best solutions for a more sustainable future.
The purpose of the programme is to support up to ten start-ups with their commercialisation and growth through Ørsted’s vast network, capabilities, and resources. Through this development, there’s potential to develop pilot projects, funding opportunities, and other long-term engagements with Ørsted. Ørsted Propel selected its first start-ups in December 2022. Stay tuned for our new call for applications!
Why Apply?
Commercialize with Ørsted
Meet with Ørsted’s team to validate a potential collaboration with their onshore and offshore global portfolio.
Access to Funding Opportunities
Explore opportunities with Ørsted and Rockstart, as well as their respective networks of international investors.
Industry and Strategic Expertise
Gain access to a network of experts tailor-made to your needs that will support you throughout the programme and beyond.
Who were we looking for in Ørsted Propel 1.0?
Ørsted looked for European-based start-ups with promising hardware and software solutions that could revolutionize the entire energy industry, and who are looking for a partner to help validate their technology on the market. We were looking for startups that focused on integration of renewable electricity in the energy system (‘system integration’) and fit one or more of the following solution themes:
Conversion and storage of surplus renewable electricity
Technologies that enable the best use of energy surpluses in the electricity system, for example technologies that aid the commercialisation of Power-to-X (e.g. hydrogen-based green feedstock or synthetic fuels) or long-duration energy storage.
Enabling flexible and efficient usage of energy
Technologies that enable or accelerate the deployment of demand response in energy-intensive applications, such as sector coupling (power, heat, transportation, heavy industry) or through scalable aggregation of decentralised energy usage.
Ensuring the stability of the electricity grid
Technologies that enable fast regulation of electricity supply and/or demand, for example technologies that could aid the provision of ancillary services to the TSOs (transmission system operators), advanced dispatching algorithms, low-cost short-duration energystorage, or other enablers for system-friendly wind/solar farms.
Aggregating and orchestrating data to better understand energy supply and demand
Technologies that focus on digitalisation and access to macro/microdata for market synchronisation and transparency. An example could be using algorithms to provide energy demand forecasting or accurate weather forecasting for renewable energy production..
Shortening the geographical proximity of energy production and consumption
Technologies that can overcome electricity transportation bottlenecks, for example by avoiding intermediaries or by increasing co-location of electricity consumption and production.
Ørsted Propel 2023 Startup Cohort
Think RE GmbH
Ocean Swell Energy
Cactos Oy
Phelas
Suena GmbH
Geyser Batteries
Real Carbon Tech
RFC Power Ltd.
Key Dates
Ørsted Propel partners with four energy storage ventures
The Netherlands, May 31, 2023
Ørsted announces that it will partner with four ventures from the Ørsted Propel acceleration programme. Ørsted and Rockstart teamed up and launched Ørsted Propel in 2023 to accelerate startups with the potential to revolutionize the energy sector as part of Ørsted’s new Innovation Hub in the Netherlands.
About Ørsted
More than 80 % of the world’s total energy consumption still comes from fossil fuels. The resulting pollution is harmful to our planet. We want to change that. And our vision is clear: Let’s create a world that runs entirely on green energy.
Ørsted is the world leader in offshore wind. Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore and onshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage facilities, renewable hydrogen and green fuels facilities, and bioenergy plants. Ørsted is recognised on the CDP Climate Change A List as a global leader on climate action and was the first energy company in the world to have its science-based net-zero emissions target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs approx. 8,000 people.
Do you have any other suggestions on how to accelerate the energy transition?
You can reach out to Ørsted here and to Rockstart at sebastian@rockstart.com.
FAQ
Who can apply for the Ørsted Propel programme?
Ørsted is looking for European-based start-ups with promising hardware and software solutions that could revolutionise the entire energy industry, and who are looking for a partner to help validate their technology on the market. The start-ups should focus on system integration and fit the following solution themes:
- Conversion and storage of surplus renewable electricity
- Enabling flexible and efficient energy usage
- Ensuring the stability of the electricity grid
- Aggregating and orchestrating data to better understand energy supply and demand
- Shortening the geographical proximity of energy production and consumption
The purpose of the programme is to support up to ten start-ups with their commercialisation and growth through Ørsted’s vast network, capabilities, and resources. Through this development, there’s potential to develop pilot projects, funding opportunities, and other long-term engagements with Ørsted.
- Once applications are closed, the Rockstart and the Ørsted teams will evaluate the applications and choose a top 20. After this, they’ll:
- invite the start-ups to a 45-minute interview where the partners will dive deeper into the application
- choose the final ten start-ups to participate in the Ørsted Propel programme.
The programme will have a hybrid format; events will take place both online and in person. The in-person events will be held in the Netherlands.
- There’ll be in-person deep dive weeks with a live kick-off of the week, workshops, plenary sessions with the Ørsted team, and partner dinners, among others.
- There’ll also be online deep dive weeks with online workshops, plenary sessions with the Ørsted team, training sessions, among others.
There are no financial costs for the start-ups entering the programme. All we ask for is your time, dedication, and passion for revolutionising the energy industry!
The Ørsted Propel programme will provide support through four elements:
- Trainings and workshops:
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- The workshops will be plenary sessions followed by 101 sessions with the trainer.
- The workshops will cover topics such as corporate relationships, team development, sales, and internationalisation strategy.
- Mentorship:
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- Each start-up will receive one to two mentors to support them during the programme. Ideally, one mentor will focus on business development, while the other will provide more industry expertise.
- The mentors will work five hours over the four months. How the start-ups work with their mentors is flexible, i.e. weekly check-ins, bi-weekly, or one larger session a month.
- Ecosystem/Network support:
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- Throughout the programme, we’ll connect the start-ups with relevant people in our partner networks, whether those be experts, investors, or corporate partners.
- There’s one final event in which the start-ups will receive expansive media attention as well as the opportunity to pitch their collaboration proposal to the Ørsted team.
- Along with Ørsted and Rockstart’s networks, we also aim to connect you with other partners in our ecosystem when possible. Included in this ecosystem are partners such as Eneco, Shell, and Vattenfall, among others.
Can’t find your answer here? Please contact us at zara@rockstart.com