Smart energy switching tech provider Labrador has finally launched its product to the UK market, offering “industry-first”, frictionless switching.
Labrador has been long-trailed in the UK market and soft-launched in February, but the company has now formally launched its service throughout the UK.
Using a free-to-use device that plugs into household broadband routers, Labrador’s ‘Retriever’ automatically switches customers whenever a cheaper tariff becomes available.
It communicates with a household’s smart meter to determine real-time energy usage and instead of relying on estimates like conventional switching sites, promises to offer more reliable data to make recommendations and automatically switch accounts.
The company claims to have signed up nearly 1,000 customers since its soft launch, but projects “exponential growth” over the next five years, pointing towards a potential audience of 10 million UK homes that have a smart meter installed to date.
Prior to its soft launch, Labrador raised around £1.2 million from more than 30 individual investors in September last year, and then raised a further £890,000 via crowdfunding platform Crowdcube in exchange for 13.57% equity.
In March it confirmed that The Daily Mail and General Trust had also backed the company by means of a £500,000 package comprising both cash and media investment in exchange for a subscription of ordinary shares.
Jane Lucy, founder and chief executive at Labrador, said: “With only 1 in 5 UK customers switching every year, we estimate British households are losing £5 billion to the high tariffs of energy companies. The Labrador is set to change that as we are the first service that recognises customers do not have time to switch, so we do it for them.”