SMAP Energy is to be acquired by Japanese firm ENECHANGE as the two aim to build a +$1 billion energy tech company.
SMAP Energy – which operates SMAP, a smart meter data analysis software-as-a-service for energy providers – was founded in the UK in 2016, having since participated in a number of accelerators and pilot studies with E.On, EDF Energy and Climate KIC, and Horizon 2020-funded projects.
This acquisition by ENECHANGE – expected to be completed by 31 March – comes after the company acquired a majority position in SMAP Energy in June 2017. Following this, the company has helped to deploy SMAP to its client base and build new applications.
ENECHANGE has existing pipelines to industry data through its price comparison service, with this therefore creating an opportunity to offer additional data analysis services of smart meter data to its Japanese suppliers to help them better understand the energy habits of their customers.
SMAP Energy director Paul Monroe said it has been an “exciting journey” to bring the two companies together, adding that energy data products and services are “an increasingly necessary part of accelerating the energy transition and promoting global decarbonisation”.
Together, the companies are now aiming to build a +$1 billion energy tech company. Both began their journey as part of the Cambridge Energy Data Lab, a privately sponsored research lab working alongside the University of Cambridge to develop solutions to emerging challenges in the global energy sector.
ENECHANGE was then founded in Tokyo in 2015, whilst SMAP was founded a year later using co-founder Yohei Kiguchi’s PhD research on smart meter data analysis developed during his time at the University.
