How to turn your energy idea into a start-up

It’s hard to think of a better focal point for innovation than the intersection between the cloud, the Industrial Internet of Things and new energy distribution models. The potential rewards for new ideas and ways of working are unprecedented.

By 2020, forecasts indicate that the market for IIoT devices aimed at cost savings and efficiencies could be worth around $500 billion. For the smart grid, investments are expected to reach similar heights of $400 billion. No forecast is perfect, but over the next 15 years spending on these two overlapping fields could top more than $50 trillion.

Nobody knows who will be the companies and individuals that shape this massive, emerging market. For innovators, whether they are students, engineers, professionals or just free thinkers, there is an enormous opportunity to design the future.

That’s why ABB, in cooperation with PoliHub, the Startup District & Incubator of Politecnico di Milano, is launching Unlock Your Ability, an international competition that sets out to fast-track engineers and start-ups with the vision to write the future of energy. All you have to do is pitch ABB your idea. If it has legs, innovation experts will help you develop your business plan so that it can advance further.

Unlock Your Ability aims to discover new smart energy and grid edge solutions that use energy data to improve efficiency and power savings, as well as smart ways to make monitoring and managing industrial assets simpler.

Judges are looking for ideas, concepts or technologies that can address any of these challenges. The deadline for entries is 30 April. Register now for more information.

Not only could you receive professional coaching to develop your business idea into a plan, successful teams will win the chance to spend time at ABB’s Bergamo tech centre. Access to ABB’s R&D resources will help develop plans into prototypes with viable business models faster. ABB will also use its contacts to make the right connections and introductions to the potential sponsors, investors and customers needed to get things off the ground.

Will it be resource sharing, collaborative consumption, peer-to-peer business models or a combination that prevail in the energy markets of the future? Share your thoughts and ideas at Unlock Your Ability now.