A Belgian startup focused on energy optimisation has closed a €3 million funding round led by renewable energy developer CleverNett, which now holds a minority stake while the company retains its independence. CIOC Energy plans to deploy the capital toward scaling its commercial and technical workforce and gaining direct access to energy trading markets across multiple European countries.
Established in September 2023, CIOC Energy operates a unified software platform that lets businesses monitor, control and trade electricity generated by solar installations and battery systems from a single interface. The company targets a market characterised by fragmentation, where solar deployment, battery management and energy trading typically fall under separate vendors with minimal integration between them.
Alexander De Bièvre, the company's chief executive, described the operational challenges that motivated the platform's creation: "We sold batteries ourselves for years, so we know exactly how fast things can go wrong when nobody's keeping watch. Without constant follow-up, faults simply go unnoticed. And when something breaks down, everyone points at someone else: the installer doesn't know the software and the control system only carries out what the energy trader decides."
To bridge this gap, CIOC Energy has engineered a proprietary control module for electrical cabinets that orchestrates solar panels, battery storage and charging infrastructure through a centralised system. The platform routes solar generation into batteries when advantageous, flattens consumption spikes during peak usage periods and executes energy trades on wholesale markets when financially optimal for the customer.
The company's pricing model aligns incentives with performance. Customers sign energy contracts with direct exposure to imbalance markets while maintaining operational control of their assets independently from their energy supplier. CIOC Energy calculates the difference between unoptimised returns and those achieved through its platform, then takes an agreed percentage of that gain after accounting for distribution and supply expenses. When the platform fails to generate additional revenue, no fee is charged.
Currently, CIOC Energy oversees more than 100 commercial installations and, through its partnership with CleverNett, manages approximately 2,000 residential battery systems. The combined portfolio encompasses over 100 megawatt-hours of battery storage and 200 megawatt-peak of installed solar capacity.
The fresh capital will fund team expansion and the establishment of proprietary market access infrastructure. This positions CIOC Energy to execute trades directly on energy exchanges operating in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Romania.
Source: Tech.eu
