Participation of end consumers essential to achieve UN Goals: Ashish Bagri | SET 100

"I wish to take away useful conversations, feedback and a network of inspired individuals and to come back in a future Congress with a much bigger impact with our startup - rvolt," said Ashish Bagri, the founder and CTO of rvolt to Devdiscourse. rvolt, a Berlin based StartUp, was invited to participate in the 24th World Energy Congress in Abu Dhabi as one of the winners of the SET 100 Awards 2019. Read the Full Interview.

Ashish Bagri is founder and CTO of rvolt, a Berlin-based startup selected for SET Award 2019. The 'Start-Up Energy Transition (SET) 100' contains the 100 best cleantech start-ups that applied for the year's SET Award – the international award for innovative business models in the areas of energy transition and climate protection. Started in 2017, the SET Award is presented by the German Energy Agency (DENA) in cooperation with the World Energy Council. This year, the future energy leaders of the SET 100 Awards were invited to present their models in the 24th World Energy Congress in  Abu Dhabi. 

Ashish Bagri represented the rvolt in the 24th World Energy Congress with a stand at the DENA section (German energy agency). In a short interview with Devdiscourse, he shared the information about his innovation and experiences in Congress. The Edited Excerpts: 

 

Q.1. How do you feel in the 24th World Energy Congress?  

Ashish Bagri: I feel excited to see all the innovations and progress we are making as a society towards energy transition and decarbonization. Meeting representatives from across the globe and understanding their local energy landscape has been very helpful and would be valuable in shaping our future business strategy.

Q.2. How your company's innovations could make a change in the world energy scenario in line to the SDG 2030 set up by the United Nations?

Ashish Bagri: We bring energy transition to the households of millions of people who currently do not have any direct means to participate. These are retail consumers living in apartments and houses and actively looking for ways to reduce their individual carbon footprint. Participation of the end consumer would be essential to achieve the goals set up by the United Nations and we enable that to happen. 

 

Q.3. What have been your company's major achievements so far?

Ashish Bagri: We have been able to build a community who are passionate about making a difference. In Germany, we have users testing and evaluating our mobile app that gives them transparency on their consumption and the amount of clean energy available in their local grid at different times of the day. We have also been selected by DENA as the top 100 most innovative startups in the world in contributing to energy transition and were invited to WEC 24 to showcase our innovation. We have been able to do all this in less than a year's time.

Q.4. What is your company's business strategy for further global expansion?

Ashish Bagri: We are based and operating in Germany currently and are looking for expansion in the EU in the next year. Being a digital direct to consumer platform, global expansion is within reach. We are also looking for potential partners in Australia and other parts of the world where smart meters roll-out is happening. 

Q.5. What message are you carrying from the 24th World Energy Congress?

Ashish Bagri: I wish to take away useful conversations, feedback and a network of inspired individuals and to come back in a future Congress with a much bigger impact with our startup - rvolt.

Thank you.