Pricelock

Pricelock, founded in December 2006 by Robert M. Fell, operated as an online platform focused on energy price protection. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company aimed to provide fuel hedging and price risk management solutions primarily for small and medium-sized enterprises, a market segment that historically lacked access to such financial instruments. The business model centered on offering customers the ability to lock in a fuel price for a specified period, ranging from three to 18 months. Clients would pay an upfront fee, typically 5-10% of their maximum projected fuel expenditure, to secure a protection price. If market fuel prices exceeded this locked-in rate, Pricelock would reimburse the difference to the customer.

Robert Fell's vision was to bring the sophisticated fuel hedging strategies used by large corporations, like airlines, to smaller businesses, enabling them to manage budget certainty against volatile energy costs. The company gained significant public attention in May 2008 through a partnership with Chrysler, which guaranteed a gasoline price of $2.99 for three years to new car buyers, a deal that brought in 24,500 customers and led to a similar arrangement with Hyundai. The management team was later strengthened by Naveen Agarwal, who served as CEO. Agarwal brought extensive experience from Silicon Valley and executive roles at E*TRADE Capital Management, aiming to drive growth and operational excellence. His background in technology and financial services was instrumental in developing Pricelock's platform, which connected large energy buyers and sellers.

The company's services included fuel spend analysis, employee incentive programs, and even a patented "green fleet" program called CarbonLock, which provided certified carbon offsets. Pricelock raised venture capital funding, including a Series A round of $7.54 million in February 2008 and a Series B round of over $12 million in March 2011. Despite its early traction and partnerships, the company eventually ceased operations, with its status listed as "Out of Business" as of January 2019. After his tenure at Pricelock, Agarwal went on to hold senior executive positions, including Chief Customer Officer at Prudential Financial.

Keywords: fuel hedging, energy price protection, fuel price risk management, fleet fuel management, commodity price protection, energy procurement, fuel cost control, gasoline price lock, diesel hedging, energy marketplace, Robert Fell, Naveen Agarwal, CarbonLock, fuel budget security, online energy auction, fleet management solutions, corporate fuel programs, energy price volatility, small business fuel savings, fuel incentive programs