Technology

Posted on June 28, 2019 by staff

Energy start-up Qbots wins £2.2m project

Technology

Manchester based technology start-up Qbots Energy has been awarded a £2.2m project as part of the Power Forward Challenge by the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Qbots Energy will lead this smart energy services demonstrator project called ENERGY-IQ, focussed on the SMEs sector serving office buildings, retail, hospitality, data centres and light industrial sites in Greater Manchester and beyond benefitting at-least 35 businesses in the UK by 2020.

Founded in 2018, Qbots Energy co-founders Dr. Li Yao and Vijay Natarajan previously worked in the IoT, software and data analytics space.

The firm will work with property company Bruntwood, which has 3000 SME tenants, Penso Power, and Manchester Metropolitan University on the demonstrators in the UK.

The Power Forward Challenge is a joint initiative between the UK and Canadian governments. The seven finalists of the initiative were selected from a group of 44 project proposals.

Automation software firm ICONICS will lead the Canadian side along with hardware technology partners Hildebrand, UK and Lanner Electronics from Canada. Energy Systems Catapult will carry out independent user research and customer surveys.

“We are really excited about winning this project, this will give us a boost to further our partnerships and establish ourselves in the UK market while also exploring global markets,” said Natarajan.

“This also provides validation for our data-driven digital approach for accelerating carbon emissions reduction.”

ENERGY-IQ will provide the necessary tools for businesses to become carbon neutral by making it easier for them to adopt renewable generation, battery storage and demand management technologies.

It has said it will provide businesses with up-to 30 per cent savings on energy bills, lower carbon emissions and manage their energy intensive assets efficiently.

The ENERGY-IQ project will also give Qbots Energy the opportunity to work with global companies like ICONICS and Lanner Electronics, enabling them to trial new innovative data-driven energy services in Canada.

Qbots Energy was recently selected as part of the Greater Manchester’s Global Scale Up programme supported by KPMG, Santander, DWP and Manchester Airport Group, run by the Growth Company.