The founders of Stabl Energy from left to right: Martin Sprehe, Arthur Singer, Christoph Dietrich and Nam Truong.
(Photo: STABL Energy GmbH)
Hamburg A winner of the University Innovation Challenge start-up competition organized by the Goethe University in Frankfurt and the Handelsblatt is making great strides: Stabl Energy, a provider of innovative inverters for power storage, is receiving large start-up funding.
With two million euros from Munich investor UVC, which is associated with the UnternehmerTUM start-up initiative, the Stabl founders now have almost 4.5 million euros in risk capital. With this they want to bring their technology to market maturity. Other investors are the Swiss utility Energie 360 °, the Initiative for Industrial Innovators and Business Angels.
Stabl Energy was created at the Technical University of Munich. The idea behind the start-up is to connect battery modules for larger energy storage devices differently than before. “We are fundamentally changing the design of battery storage systems and are pursuing a completely new approach,” says chief marketer Markus Förstl.
The start-up connects a small number of modules via many smaller inverters. This should bring some advantages: The energy loss should be significantly lower. The modules are normally connected in series and then convert the direct current into alternating current via a large inverter.
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In addition, the provider promises to be able to better harmonize modules with different performance levels. This makes it easier, for example, to use old batteries from e-cars. In addition, Stabl Energy wants to gain more data on the condition of the batteries during operation.
Innovative inverters are to be marketed in 2022
With the fresh money, the start-up wants to advance the construction of a pilot system for its first customer in Switzerland. Here, an agricultural business is to be supplied with a commercial storage facility, which will replace a smaller facility. In addition, the founders want to push the development so far that all certifications are in place. This means that the product could be widely marketed to producers of energy storage systems in 2022.
Stabl Energy was created at the Technical University of Munich.
(Photo: STABL Energy GmbH)
“The technology from Stabl also makes battery storage systems financially attractive for many applications. In particular, the flexibility and combination of different battery modules in a battery storage system – as well as the easy reuse of second-life batteries – make this concept extremely exciting, ”says Metin Zerman, Investment Manager of the Smart Energy Innovation Fund from Energie 360 ° on request.
At the end of 2019 – only nine months after it was founded – the team had received an award in the competition for university start-ups. “Now is the perfect time for us: The energy transition is bringing us unreliable fidgeting electricity from wind and sun. So we need energy storage, ”said co-founder Arthur Singer at the award in Frankfurt.
A lot has happened since then: Twelve people now work at the start-up, including nine developers. The founders not only work on technology, but also on marketing. Together with industrial design students, they came up with the new name Stabl Energy after entering the competition as “m-Bee”.
The founders are very ambitious. In addition to merging with a large corporation, an independent IPO is also conceivable one day, hopes chief marketer Förstl. The idea could get really big – up to the billions-valued unicorn company.
There are new ideas at this year’s University Innovation Challenge awards ceremony on October 21.
More: All information about the University Innovation Challenge
