May 4, 2020
Episode 1: Breaking into energy
Our first podcast is with serial entrepreneur Christoph Ostermann, CEO & Co-Founder of Sonnen, a residential energy storage systems tech company, recently exited to Shell and Audun Abelsnes, MD of Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator on the trials, tribulations of starting up in the energy space and how to overcome them. The energy sector is notoriously difficult to penetrate, with high barriers to entry. It also has a reputation for being slow to innovate. Yet the prize for breaking through is significant - both in terms of value and in terms of social impact, by other increasing access to energy or making it cleaner, with fewer emissions.
Christoph and Audun share their thoughts on funding, proofs of concept, building teams and the ups and downs of partnering with corporates with John Mushriqui, a serial entrepreneur now working at Launchpad, BP's business-builder.
Energy is in something of a crisis. Start-ups with brilliant tech may hold the key. But they need help to scale. Tha…