Graham’s idea, to harness the energy in back-up power supplies, such as batteries in data centres, traffic lights and electric car charging points, to create a virtual energy store which could be drawn on when needed, earned him a place in the final.
He received £10,000 to develop a business plan and prototype and Upside Energy started trading 18 months later, in April 2015.
Three years after the challenge ended, the finalists including Upside and Powervault, which makes a device that stores solar energy for use at night, had secured over £10 million in grants, crowdfunding and other investment.
By the end of 2018, five years after Graham had jotted down his idea on a quiet day, Upside had raised more than £3 million in grant funding and £6.7 million in equity finance.
This included investments from Legal & General and grants from Department of Energy & Climate Change, the EU’s Climate-KIC accelerator programme for start-ups and Innovate UK.
It had also signed a deal with EDF Energy, one of the largest energy suppliers in the UK.