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Podero on Dynamic Tariffs: Save More
Deep Dive Episode by Trending Topics Podcast
Podero is a Viennese startup that helps energy suppliers synchronize devices, electricity markets and software systems to offer competitive electricity contracts. Guest on the podcast is Chris Bernkopf, co-founder and CEO of Podero, to introduce his startup.
The Key Points Discussed On The Episode:
Podero's solution
Chris Bernkopf's experience at the renowned US incubator Y Combinator
How Podero came about and the biggest milestones
The technology of the young company
The past investments that Podero has raised
The dynamic electricity tariffs coming in 2025
How the electricity market will develop in the future
The Episode
Georg: Hello and welcome to a new podcast episode of Trending Topics' Tech & Nature.
Podero is a Viennese startup that helps energy providers to synchronize devices, electricity markets and software systems to offer competitive power contracts. Today's guest in the podcast is Chris Bernkopf, co-founder and CEO of Podero, to introduce his startup. But first there is a short advertising break.
So, now we begin. The name is Chris Bernkopf, welcome, hello.
Chris: Hello, I’m very happy.
Georg: Yes, I’m happy too. I tried to introduce Podero a bit in the introduction, but of course, you can do it much better. So can you tell us again what Podero does exactly?
Chris: Yes, gladly, gladly. I’ll do it in two sentences. Podero is a software for energy providers, with which the end-customer energy providers can save up to 25% on electricity costs.
We do this by connecting the devices, for example, heat pumps, electrodes, or batteries, to the power market. And then we promote trade on the power market to create these savings.
Georg: Okay, sounds good. How did the idea for Podero come about?
Chris: Yes, good question. We actually started to plan heat pump installation projects in large buildings. We had about 20 such projects, let’s say, in progress.
Then we realized that this operations part, i.e., the whole thing around it, is simply not for us and is, of course, extremely expensive. So we thought, let’s see how we could continue to help with these devices. That’s when we started talking to E.ON Sweden, and they told us that if we controlled the devices instead of installing them, they’d like to become our customers. So we began optimizing these devices to reduce costs.
Georg: Okay, cool. A personal question for you. I saw on LinkedIn earlier that in 2021, a year before founding Podero, you attended Y Combinator, which is a very renowned startup accelerator in the US.
What did you learn there? Did it inspire you to start Podero?
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Subscribe now!Chris: Yes, thank you. I think it was a kind of boot camp for me, you could say. It was a three-month program.
In this case, it was remote because of the second wave of COVID. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to San Francisco. But we had regular conversations with the partners and exchanged ideas on certain topics.
There’s also a lot of material available—articles from Paul Graham and others—and the exchange with the other startups was really helpful. I think that was probably my biggest learning in such a short amount of time.
Georg: Okay. And were you able to apply that in founding Podero?
Chris:Yes, definitely. One key lesson was to “talk to your customers”—it’s something we hold onto very strongly. Whenever we’re not constantly talking to customers, we get a little nervous.
Another important lesson is from reading all the Paul Graham essays. It teaches you to write and reflect more. We try to write down both long-term plans and short-term ideas so we can view them more deeply.
Georg: That sounds like good lessons for founding a company. And since you launched in 2022, what have been the biggest milestones in Podero’s journey?
Chris:We officially started in December 2022. The first thing was to see if what we were trying to do was technically possible. We had done some experiments, but our first step was to understand if we could control heat pumps, electrodes, and batteries according to the most complex power markets.
We initially wanted to target private customers, but we quickly learned that to fully participate in power markets, we needed to work directly with energy providers. That led us to pivot from B2C to B2B.
A major milestone was our first pilot contract with E.ON Sweden last June. Then, our first big SaaS contract and our platform’s GoLive were huge highlights. More recently, we had a marketing launch about two months ago.
Georg:Wow, sounds like some impressive milestones! Let’s talk more about the technology you’re using. How does it work?
Chris:Yes, gladly. Our software is either used as a white-label app by energy providers, or they integrate our API into their app. Once integrated, end customers can add their devices.
For instance, if someone owns a Tesla, they log in with their Tesla account. For other devices, like Wi-Fi-connected heat pumps, they input an email and serial number. For devices without APIs, we send a small gateway that the customer plugs into their internet router, which allows us to monitor and control the device.
Our system can control devices based on solar PV generation or spot electricity prices. We aggregate the control of these devices across the energy provider’s fleet and optimize energy trading.
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Georg: That’s fascinating. And how do you monetize this? Can you explain the business model?
Chris: We earn money through the energy provider. We share revenues from energy trading as well, although the energy provider retains control over trading. We deliver the data and information to the electricity market and share the revenue generated.
Georg: Interesting! Which energy providers have you onboarded so far? Are there any notable names?
Chris: We’re active in the Nordics and German-speaking regions. We’re working with E.ON, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, along with Ökostrom in Austria, Akela in Germany, and others in Austria and Sweden.
Georg: That’s great! Have you raised any investments or received subsidies?
Chris: Yes, we had a pre-seed round in December 2022 and then received a subsidy from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) in May. The combined amount was just under €2 million.
Georg: That’s impressive! Who were your investors?
Chris: Push Ventures from Vienna, Pale Blue Dot from Sweden, and two angels with backgrounds in high-frequency trading. All of our investors are either active founders or ex-founders, which has been fantastic for advice and support.
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Book a demoGeorg: Very cool. What are your future plans?
Chris: We’re focused on growth—hiring developers, sales, and marketing people. We also continue integrating manufacturers and improving our algorithms to offer the lowest electricity prices.
Georg: That sounds exciting! Finally, what’s your outlook on electricity prices and the future of the energy market?
Chris: Prices spiked during the Ukrainian war, but they’ve since normalized. The trend of more solar and wind energy installations is accelerating. We’re at the start of an S-curve for solar, wind, and heat pumps.
Dynamic electricity tariffs will play a role, but our solution works regardless of tariffs, which is crucial. The key challenge will be managing the volatility in electricity prices, and we’re helping energy providers turn that into an opportunity for savings.
Georg: It sounds like your platform is well-positioned to help energy providers navigate this. Thanks for all the insights into Podero, Chris.
Chris: Thank you, Georg. It was a pleasure.
Georg: And that was Chris Bernkopf from Podero. Thank you for listening, and tune in next time for another episode.
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