Conjoule

Conjoule GmbH operated as a startup in the peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading market, leveraging blockchain technology to create a decentralized marketplace. The company was founded in Essen, Germany, in 2017 by Sam Warburton. Warburton, who previously worked at the innogy Innovation Hub, brought over two decades of experience in trading-based energy systems to the venture, positioning the team to develop new products for a decentralized energy landscape.

The firm's core business was a digital platform designed to connect producers of renewable energy directly with consumers. This model allowed owners of assets like residential solar photovoltaic systems, batteries, and other sources of flexibility to transact with local buyers, bypassing traditional intermediaries. The platform aimed to serve a variety of customers, including homeowners with solar installations (prosumers), neighbors without their own generation, local businesses, and even supermarkets and schools. By using blockchain, Conjoule sought to ensure transparency in transactions, making the source of every kilowatt-hour traceable. This approach followed the 'sharing economy' concept, where consumers could purchase energy directly from their neighbors, fostering local energy structures and potential cost advantages due to proximity.

A significant milestone for Conjoule was securing a €4.5 million Series A investment in July 2017 from two major utility companies: the innogy Innovation Hub and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). This funding was intended to expand the technical team and facilitate the commercial launch of the platform, which had been in pilot testing in two German cities. The company also engaged in collaborative projects, such as the "Community Network" initiative with innogy in Mülheim an der Ruhr, to trial their platform in a real-world setting with smart meters measuring energy flows in real-time. However, Conjoule's primary investor, innogy, was acquired by E.ON in a deal completed in September 2019, and the parent company was subsequently integrated and defunct by 2020.

Keywords: peer-to-peer energy trading, blockchain energy, renewable energy marketplace, P2P electricity, solar energy trading, decentralized energy, smart grid, prosumers, energy sharing, local energy markets, Conjoule, Sam Warburton, innogy Innovation Hub, TEPCO, community energy, energy-tech, greentech, electricity marketplace, sustainable energy, distributed energy resources